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A late-night trip to Central Park with a package of Sabrett hot dogs has racked up millions of views on TikTok — and sparked a debate about what you should and shouldn’t be doing with the neighborhood’s wildlife.
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CJ, a TikTok creator who posts under the handle @cjcentralpark and says he’s been offering professionally guided tours through Central Park since 2018, filmed himself walking toward a cluster of rocks on the park’s North End on what he described as an “okay night” he was trying to improve. His method: tossing hot dogs to a growing crowd of raccoons who emerged from the rocks one by one, extending their arms to grab the sausages before disappearing back into the shadows.“You want to have the best night of your life, you don’t need to spend that much money in New York,” CJ says in the clip. “Just buy a pack of Sabrett hot dogs and feed the raccoons in Central Park.”
He serenaded them as he tossed each one — “Who wants a hot dog?” — and captioned the video a reference to “Raccoon Rock,” joking that “the acoustics on the North End hit different on a Monday night.”
The video, first covered by BroBible, has been viewed more than 6 million times, with commenters split between those charmed by the scene and those raising concerns. Several viewers were distressed that CJ appeared to run out before every raccoon got one. He later returned with a family pack.
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Others pushed back on the whole idea. Wildlife experts and city officials have long advised against feeding raccoons. NYC 311 warns that feeding them can turn the animals into a nuisance in homes and public spaces, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation has called the practice “unwise.” Raccoons that get used to being hand-fed can lose their natural foraging instincts and may begin approaching people more aggressively — a particular concern around small children.Raccoons are the most widespread wild animal in New York State, according to Wildlife NYC, and Central Park is one of the places in the city where they’re most commonly spotted.
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