In the days leading up to New Year’s Eve, AI-generated posts flooded social media, showing fireworks over the Brooklyn Bridge. These posts claimed the fireworks would be part of the city’s New Year’s Eve festivities.
The videos were apparently convincing enough that thousands of people showed up along the Brooklyn waterfront to see the display for themselves.
AI ads mislead thousands about NYE fireworks
The large crowd of people was duped by fake ads about a fireworks show at the Brooklyn Bridge. As midnight hit, nothing happened. No fireworks. The huge crowds waited for hours, only to be let down.
Marco Abbiati, a New Yorker, took to Instagram to explain what went wrong. “Last night, thousands of people went to DUMBO & the Brooklyn Bridge expecting New Year’s Eve fireworks,” he wrote on Instagram. “They waited for hours in the cold… and nothing happened. Why? Because in the past few days, social media pages and AI-generated posts shared videos of fireworks at the Brooklyn Bridge, claiming they were for NYE. Those videos were actually from July 4th.”
The AI posts were misleading, falsely suggesting that the Brooklyn Bridge would host a fireworks display similar to those in other major cities. However, no such event had ever been scheduled. In fact, Brooklyn does not typically have fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Instead, a handful of other spots in the city are known for their smaller displays.
Abbiati, who also mentioned that many of the pages promoting the hoax were run by individuals outside of New York City, pointed out how social media and AI can mislead users when not fact-checked properly. “Many of those pages are run by people who don’t live in NYC and have never experienced New Year’s Eve here,” he explained.
Reactions on social media
Social media users quickly reacted to the viral misinformation. TikToker @alldaynyc posted a video showing the disappointed crowd in Brooklyn, mocking the situation. “Yo, this is incredible. Look at all the people lined up in Brooklyn thinking they about to see fireworks on the Brooklyn Bridge,” he said. “They came here because they follow a bunch of AI slop, TikTok, and Instagrams. […] Stop following these fugazy pages.”
@alldaynyc HAAAAAAA🤣
♬ original sound – ALLDAYNYC
Some New Yorkers responded to the incident with humor. “A real NY’er knows there’s no NYE fireworks over there😂😂 only Coney Island and some other unofficial spots,” one commenter joked. Another wrote, “April fools in December 😂😂😂😂”
Others expressed concerns about the dangers of blindly trusting online content. “This is actually quite scary that this many people don’t fact-check what they see on here 😬,” one TikToker said. Another questioned, “How did police not see this huge crowd and tell them there were no Brooklyn Bridge fireworks?”
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