Resident Warns of Dangers of Prospect Park's Frozen, Hidden Lake

Yesterday the icy shores of Prospect Park Lake may have begun to melt, but today it’s a return to frozen temperatures – and frozen waters.

For Prospect Park-goers, that means exercising particular caution in the areas surrounding the lake, which often looks more like land thanks to mounds of snow and freezing weather.

Though the lake is surrounded by signs warning park-goers of the ice, Park Slope resident Anne-Katrin Titze, a wildlife rehabilitator and waterfowl advocate, said she witnessed eight people walking on the lake on Sunday morning – potentially without realizing they were on water at all.

“You can’t distinguish anymore between what is the lake and what is not,” said Titze, who has been an outspoken critic of lakeside conditions this winter. “All of the paths are completely iced over so (people) cannot walk or drive. It’s very hazardous. To have the usual signs that are usually just ripped off is not enough.”

According to the Parks Department, there are 26 signs with ice ladders mounted on them installed around the lake to warn winter park visitors not to venture out on to the ice, and 25 "thin ice" buoys installed in the lake. Though, in many places the signs are at least 50 feet apart.

Parks Enforcement Patrol officers are assigned to monitor the lakeside daily and remind people to stay off the lake, as well to leash any pets so that their pets will not run onto the ice, as did one  that drowned in the lake earlier this year.

“I haven’t heard reports of people walking on the lake. Certainly some people may – unwisely – choose to venture out when parts are frozen,” said Prospect Park press director Eugene Patron. “But it’s prohibited, there are signs around the lake and any park staff, officers and NYPD would immediately tell them to get off the ice.”

Titze charges that mere signs are not enough to keep people from wandering onto the lake, and that instead the park needs to better clear the paths surrounding the lakeside.

But Patron explained that while some of the interior paths are cleared in the wintertime, salt is bad for natural areas and therefore used sparingly, especially surrounding the lakeside. In addition, many park-goers enjoy exploring the park when it is covered in snow, rather than shoveled and plowed.

“It has been policy to keep the pedestrian paths in remote spots of the park unplowed so that visitors can enjoy winter activities, such as sledding and cross country skiing,” added a Parks Department spokesperson.

“Most people who live around here would know there is a lake,” said Lisa Roma, a freelance writer and songwriter, enjoying the lakeside in Monday’s 50-degree weather.

She added, though, that those unfamiliar with the lakeside might not realize exactly where the edge of the lake is. “It would be helpful to have something marking the edge of the lake,” she said.

“I feel like it is kind of a fluke,” said Bridget Davis, 22, referring to people unknowingly wandering out onto the lake. “I kind of like that (the lake) isn't marked, that would be distracting.”