STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — No, as cool as it might sound, you can’t ride snowmobiles in Silver Lake Park.
An Instagram post created by @slpforthepeople falsely announced that Councilmember Kamillah Hanks’ office helped “make this happen.”
The post goes on to say that Silver Lake Park Road is “open to snowmobiles from noon Sunday to noon Monday.”
This is inaccurate.
Snowmobiles and other kinds of motorized vehicles are prohibited in Silver Lake Park, just like other parks in New York City.
In fact, snowmobiling is largely not allowed in the five boroughs.
Hanks took to Instagram to call out @slpforthepeople’s post, describing it as “FAKE NEWS.”
“The Office of CM Hanks has no knowledge or made any approvals of snowmobiling in Silver Lake Park or any park. This seems to be some poor attempt at satire that is dangerous and irresponsible. Please contact our office should you have questions regarding which activities can be done in NYC Parks,” Hanks’ post stated.
In the comment section, users admitted to falling for the @slpforthepeople post.
“Must admit for a second there……lol,” one commenter wrote.
Hanks replied with, “I thought it was real, I reached out to Parks and DOT and asked when was this approved. Everyone was confused; so if we are confused, so will the community. They could have killed someone.”
Another user commented, “Purposely misleading people is wrong. I am happy that you spoke up about this. Great Job @kamillahmhanks.”
If clicked on, the @slpforthepeople page reads: “The profile you’re looking for doesn’t exist.”