NYC reservoir drops 8 feet, uncovering sinister package wrapped in tape
Silver Lake has dropped nearly 9 feet since the city stopped refilling it with fresh drinking water. Brigitte Stelzer
A sudden drop in the water level at Staten Island’s Silver Lake reservoir has revealed a strange discovery — a pistol and a pair of brass knuckles wrapped in a mysterious package, leaving locals scratching their heads.
“You can see somebody had bundled something up and taped it to this rock with like a mile of tape, which immediately caught my attention,” said Chris Sammon, a Staten Island native and avid fisherman who explored the newly exposed reservoir.
“I thought it might be a pet given some sort of strange water burial, or maybe a weapon of some kind,” he added. “I was worried it might be a decomposed animal, but thankfully it wasn’t.”
Instead, Sammon found the troubling bundle — which he handed over to a nearby police officer, just in case it was evidence tied to a cold case. “I probably would’ve kept the brass knuckles,” he admitted to the Staten Island Advance.
The discovery is just one of many unusual items uncovered after the reservoir’s water level dropped more than eight feet over the past year as part of a city-led water conservation effort.
As of December 17, Silver Lake held just 239.5 million gallons of water — nearly half of its 400-million-gallon capacity. That’s down from 361.5 million gallons last October, marking an 8.5-foot drop. “That’s definitely the lowest I can remember. Every year it goes down a bit, but not like this,” Sammon said.
Many locals have taken unsanctioned trips to the fenced-off reservoir since the city Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) stopped topping it off last year. The move came during a summer heat wave that threatened the city’s drinking water supply, echoing the previous year’s drought conditions.
Despite the city avoiding a drought, 20 other New York counties, including Nassau and Suffolk, remained under a drought watch. As of December 24, state reservoirs were only at 74.5% of capacity — over 13% below normal.
“From the Cannonsville Reservoir upstate to the southern tip of Staten Island, DEP carefully manages the city’s drinking water reserves,” a DEP spokesperson told The Post. “Our top priority is conserving water in our upstate reservoirs so it’s available when needed. Silver Lake is purely aesthetic, so we don’t plan to refill it immediately.”
Even with warnings that Silver Lake is off-limits, many Staten Islanders have explored the depleted shoreline in search of hidden treasures. Sammon had hoped to find century-old wine bottles but instead stumbled across more than he expected. Other visitors have reported discovering old phones, a makeshift golf ball graveyard from a nearby course, and, unfortunately, large amounts of trash.
Recently, a normally submerged pipe became visible, which the DEP said is part of the reservoir’s infrastructure. While there are no immediate plans to refill Silver Lake, officials noted the reservoir could be replenished if upstate reservoirs receive enough rainfall or snow.
In the meantime, DEP continues to caution against exploring the newly exposed lakebed.
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