Click above for an interactive map showing what you need to know about city rinks.
Ice rinks are a trademark wintertime scene in New York City, from movies like Elf—in which Buddy finds love at Rockefeller Center—to the day-and-night crowds in Bryant Park vying for their chance to skate for free.
The city’s most famous rinks, like Wollman Rink in Central Park, draw tourists from all over the world. Yet most—such as the Abe Stark Rink in Coney Island or Riverbank State Park’s rink in Harlem—generally are populated by New Yorkers helping their kids learn how to figure skate or watching them play hockey.
In four of the five boroughs, you have your choice of where to skate. (In the rink-less Bronx, a plan to convert the Kingsbridge Armory into the world’s largest ice-skating center, with nine Olympic-sized rinks, has been in the works since 2012.)
NYCity News Service photographers have complied useful information on the rinks and visited them to document the season, indoors and out. —Anne Todd
Getting in Gear
Skates await renters at City Ice Pavilion in Long Island City, Queens. (Jeffrey Harrell)
Off ice at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. (Ann Seymour)
Tying things up at The Rink at Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan. (Jeffrey Harrell)
Buckling up at Lasker Rink in northern Central Park, Manhattan. (Anushtha Agrawal)
Assistance Is at Hand
Getting a handle on balance at The Rink in Bryant Park’s Winter Village in Midtown. (Anushtha Agrawal)
Safety in numbers at The Rink at Rockefeller Center in Midtown. (Anne Todd)
Sometimes You Are on Your Own
Meeting the ice at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. (Ethan Stark-Miller)
The Rail Story
Leaning in at the Industry City Ice Rink in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. (Anne Todd)
Learning to glide at Winterland. (Cole Zerboni)
Clinging to hope in Prospect Park. (Ann Seymour)
That Moment It All Comes Together
Feeling the joy at Lasker rink. (Anushtha Agrawal)
Feeling the music at Riverbank. (Ann Seymour)
Feeling the friendship at Bryant Park. (Anushtha Agrawal)
Dramatic Backdrops, No Extra Charge
Winterland at Pier 17 on the East River in Lower Manhattan, co-starring Brooklyn. (Cole Zerboni)
Joining forces at Bryant Park. (Henna Choudhary)
The Zamboni Interludes
Waiting for the ice to be smoothed at Riverbank State Park in Harlem. (Rosemary Misdary)
Making the rounds as the snow falls on The Ice at StuyTown on the East Side of Manhattan. (Lenn Robbins)
A trail that will soon disappear at Wollman Rink in southern Central Park. (Ann Seymour)
