Snow-loving New Yorkers are coming up with out-of-the-box ideas for makeshift-sleds as the city faced a shortage leading up to Winter Storm Fern.
Sleds quickly sold out in stores across Gotham by Saturday, with the prospect of up to a-foot of snow in NYC by Monday. And online orders aren’t expected to arrive until the end of next week — leaving the sled-starved desperate for alternatives.
People sled after an overnight snowstorm in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York City, on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. Michael Nagle
A child sleds in Forest Hills, Queens, on December 27, 2025. ZUMAPRESS.com
Sisters Shoshana Dornhelm (wearing a Santa hat) and Esther Dornhelm sled in Brooklyn on Dec. 27, 2025. Michael Nagle
One Upper West Sider put out an urgent call for advice on to Reddit — noting they are “STRESSED” and “NOT GOING ANOTHER SNOWSTORM WITHOUT A GOOD SLED.”
Some users suggested “going old school” and to “borrow” a lunch tray from a school or fast food spots like McDonald’s. Another suggested a tray from Katz’s Delicatessen on the Lower East Side, which may be more difficult now that the pastrami mecca now has a “security guy at the door.”
A bulletin warning motorists to avoid travel in preparation of major Winter Storm Fern as seen on an electronic sign on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, New York, on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. Christopher Sadowski
A cardboard-box could also be used in a pinch, while with others suggested using something a bit more durable, such as a trashcan lid.
The sleds will come in handy Sunday during a competition scheduled on Sunday in Central Park at 3 p.m. The winner gets $50.