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George Headley
By George Headley February 27, 2026

A NYC man did not build this hyper-realistic car out of snow to protest slow snow removal

After a blizzard hit New York City Feb. 22, a viral Instagram post said, in protest of the city’s inefficient snow removal, a man crafted a car entirely of snow and received a parking ticket for the sculpture. 

"NYC man crafts realistic snow car — receives parking ticket from NYPD," said text on the video.

But a video and images included in the post show events that did not happen in New York or even as recently as this month. It uses images from a similar post on Facebook nearly eight years ago and a video from Lithuania in 2021. And neither posts say law enforcement issued real parking tickets. 

The 2018 Facebook post was from a machinist in Canada who fooled Montreal law enforcement with a car made of snow and was issued a fake parking ticket for the prank. The sculpture was in a local snow removal zone and later cleared by sanitation workers the following day, CBS News reported at the time.

The Instagram post also used 2021 footage showing a Lithuanian couple sculpting a Ferrari out of snow and painting it to replicate a real sportscar. Donata Bugiene, who documented her husband building the Ferrari out of snow, was featured on FOX10 and Storyful

We rate the claim that this Instagram video shows a New York City man sculpting a car out of snow False.

Our Sources

Instagram post, Feb. 24, 2026

Facebook post, Jan. 15, 2018

CBS News, "Man fools officers with car made of snow, gets fake parking ticket," Jan. 18, 2018 

Fox10 Phoenix, "Couple carves their own life-size red Ferrari out of snow," Feb. 4, 2021

Storyful, "Lithuanian Couple Sculpt Their Own Million-Dollar Ferrari Out of Snow, Feb. 3, 2021

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A NYC man did not build this hyper-realistic car out of snow to protest slow snow removal

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