Snowfall brings thrillseekers and FDNY to park’s south hill

Neighborhood kids woke up Sunday morning, Dec. 14, to the first real snowfall of the season, and many headed straight for the steep slope on the west side of Sunset Park.

Just after 8 a.m., a small but dedicated group of children plowed down the hill while park workers shoveled and salted the steps. Nearby, a jogger ran laps around the lawn in shorts and a tank top, apparently immune to both temperature and side glances from sleepy parents.

The going was slow at first, as sledders broke trails, packing down the powdery snow, but soon enough, course times quickened and risks grew as the black iron fence waited below.

In 2018, the hill got something of a safety upgrade. The old chain-link fence at the bottom was in rough shape, likely in part from the constant thuds of sleds and bodies slamming into it every snow day. Over time, it warped enough that kids could slip through gaps between the fence and the ground and rocket down the even steeper embankment below, tumbling toward the high stone wall.

The chain link was eventually replaced with more aesthetically pleasing, but far less forgiving, wrought iron. One parent, Kevin Greer, sipping a steaming cup of Café Bustelo, recalled the consequences of a misjudged run from last winter.

“Last year, I saw a kid go down and hit their head and they were bleeding,” remembered Greer. “And I saw the dad on the cell phone, like explaining, and then 10 minutes later, his wife comes down. She's livid, she was so pissed at him for letting the kid go down.”

Asked if he might currently be putting himself in the same situation as the unfortunate father from his story, he dismissed the hazard using proud-parent logic. “My kid is really good, he knows how to steer on this thing. He's gotten good at it, so I don't worry.”

Meanwhile, his son Rye, was one of a couple young engineers piling and packing a two-foot hump of snow.

“Creating a ramp, like sort of a jump,” explained Rye as he shoveled and gathered snow in a tried and true tradition of Sunset Park kids who just need a little more thrill added to their spills. “I love snow. Snow is the best. Do you like snow?”

Many a parent has remarked on their evolving relationship with winter. Snow is great when you're young, but as you grow older and play less, the shorter days and holiday stress can put a damper on the season. For some, the cold weather can mean less work and less income.

Gabriel Concha, who moved to the U.S. from Peru in 2003 and has lived in Sunset Park since 2010, said his early winters were a time of financial hardship.

“When I moved here, the first five years were really hard because the snow, for me, meant that I didn’t have a job,” he said. “I lost usually, like, 15 pounds in the winter.”

For many grown ups, having kids means another shift in attitude about the colder months. Eventually, Concha was able to find steady work as a fitness instructor, with a second job at the Park Slope Food Coop, and having a child gave him an excuse to enjoy the snow he never got to experience as a child in Peru.

“It’s liberating because you get to sit down and forget about everything and just play,” Concha said.

His son, Matias, agreed, and maintained a philosophical approach to the dangers that come with sledding on the south slope. “Even if you do crash it’s just like you’re racing in a racing car and then it’s like ‘boom,’ your car explodes,” explained Matias, “but you’re still alive.”

By mid-morning the snow had mostly stopped, the hill was crowded with careening kids and the ramp was being put through its paces. Laughter and screams of either delight or terror could be heard clear across Fifth Avenue.

Of course, it’s all fun and games until New York’s bravest are called to the scene. At least once that day (three-times by some accounts), FDNY showed up to help a sledder detangle from the fence. One young adult woman got her legs wedged between the iron bars and firefighters had to pry her loose. EMS was on hand with a gurney, but the woman was able to walk away, clearly shaken up, but saying she was okay.

In the end, over three inches of snow fell on the park that day. As for what the rest of winter may look like, a weak La Niña is expected to nudge the East Coast toward a milder winter overall. While it’s likely there will be at least one more big snow this winter, at least one child was seen as late as Tuesday morning getting in a few runs before class on the icy hill, making the most of Sunset Park’s first snowstorm.