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The New York City Inline Skating Guide
Clubs and Leagues: Roller Hockey
There are innumerable playgrounds and schoolyards around the city being used for rollerhockey, formally or not. Just keep your eyes open for hockey activity when you pass one in your neighborhood. Also check out the NYC Parks Dept. rollerhockey venues list and SatanVision's pick-up rollerhockey page.
If you're interested in forming your own rollerhockey league, you probably need to talk to the folks at the USA Hockey Inline for info about insurance, standardized rules, etc.
Manhattan
Working our way north from Downtown to Inwood...
Way downtown, there is a rollerhockey rink laid in Tanahey Playground on Cherry St. behind the New York Post. It's been a long time since I've down there, but it did not strike me as well maintained back then. The nearby Al Smith Rec Center (212-285-0300) probably has the skinny on any organized play that may be happening there.
The playground at the intersection of Houston Street and Sixth Ave. is home to regular roller activity. The surface is in good shape, and there are usually at least 15 players and sometimes as many as 30. Hockey-loving celebrities have been known to join in.
The northwest corner of Tompkins Square Park, at Avenue A and 10th St., is a paved playground marked for baseball.
There are casual pick-up rollerhockey games summer weekday evenings, typically Tuesday and Thursday.
In Stuyvesant Town, east of First Ave. at about 16th St., is a sunken playground that is also host to frequent pick-up rollerhockey, similar to the Houston St. venue in surface, atmosphere, and number of players.
There is no longer a rollerhockey program at Chelsea Piers, at 24th St. on the Hudson River, as the rink has been completely ripped out. Some of the clubs which played there are now playing at Stanley M. Isaacs Park (see below).
Near the United Nations, Robert Moses Playground at First Ave. and 42nd St. is painted for rollerhockey. For organized action here, check with the East End Hockey Association, active in rollerhockey since 1972. (Note: This playground could disappear if plans for renovation and expansion of the U.N. facilities ever get moving.)
The "Dead Road" in Central Park has since about 2000 become more of a rollerhockey venue than it was in the 1990s. There is regular pick-up activity with perhaps a dozen players on weekends in late morning and continuing until the Dance Skaters set up, and on weekdays after school/work hours. The Central Park players prefer a mellower, less competitive atmosphere than other pick-up hockey locations around town.
![[photo]](/nyc/pix/schurz_01a.jpg)
On the Upper East Side, there has been a nice rollerhockey rink in the south end of Carl Schurz Park (East End Ave. at 86th St.) for well over ten years, and it's been re-surfaced twice during that time.
Further up on the Upper East Side, Stanley M. Isaacs Park at First Ave. and 96th St. has long had a reputation as a happening rollerhockey venue, and that was before a "real" rollerhockey rink was laid out. The park was further renovated in 2000, and the excellent albeit a bit small roller hockey rink re-dedicated as the Paul McDermott rink.
As of 2007, organized youth hockey at Isaacs is handled by the
Yorkville Youth Athletic Association.
In summer 2007, Manhattan Roller Hockey League, a group of adult teams who formerly played at Chelsea Piers, began organized play at Isaacs Park on Sunday afternoons and weekday evenings.
Riverbank State Park, along Riverside Dr. at 145th St., has in the past offered open rollerhockey sessions at its covered skating rink during the summer. Call (212) 694-3600 to inquire if they're currently doing so.
There is an established Washington Heights hockey group who play every Saturday morning from 10 to noon at J. Hood Wright Park, on Fort Washington Ave. between 175th and 176th St. There is no hockey rink in the park, but as at Tompkins Square and elsewhere, there is a painted aphalt baseball field which fills in. More info is available on the group's Google groups page.
And all the way uptown, there is a rollerhockey rink laid out in Dyckman Fields, in Inwood Hill Park along the Hudson River. However, as of late 2007, it looks like hockey use of the rink has ebbed so low that part of the rink is being used for volleyball instead. The overall condition of the asphalt does not look that bad, but there are long cracks with weeds growing in them.
Brooklyn
In Bay Ridge, the rink at Betty Rappaport Playground, 53rd St. and Fort Hamilton Pkwy., hosts regular league activity.
A rink at 2665 Coyle St. and Voorhies Ave. in King's Bay/Sheepshead Bay is home to youth and adult hockey play.
Youth play is organized by the Kings Bay Youth Organization and offers leagues for anywhere from age 5 to age 17.
Adult play is organized by the new Brooklyn Hockey League, formed in 2006.
There is a rink tucked in Joseph Thomas McGuire Park in Mill Basin. Enter the park at the corner of Bergen Ave. and Avenue W and cross the baseball field. It's alongside the tennis courts.
There is a MeetUp group for Brooklyn (roller) hockey.
Queens
Generally working west to east...
Outdoor rink at Dutch Kills Playground, 27th St. and 37th Ave.: The last time I was in the area (admittedly a long time ago), this rink looked especially nice.
Outdoor rink in Chapetto Square in Astoria Park, located at 21st St. below the Triborough Bridge
The 104 Precinct Youth Council organizes the 104th Precinct Roller Hockey League in Glendale. They normally use the rink in Mafera Park, 65th Place and 68th Ave., which was renovated in summer/autumn of 2007. As of December 2007, a new mens' league was expected to begin play very soon.
Outdoor James Bohan rink in Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village, located between the football/soccer field and baseball diamonds and not far from the intersection of Lutheran Ave. and Juniper Blvd. North. In use by the Middle Village Roller Hockey League, a youth organization. No info about whether there is adult league or pick-up activity.
Outdoor rink at College Point Sports Fields, at 25th Ave and 130th St.
This location is apparently devoted to organized play by the College Point Roller Hockey league.
Outdoor rink in George Harvey Park, Whitestone, alongside the Whitestone Expressway and near the intersection of 15th Ave. and 144th St. This was reported in February 2007 to be heavily used by youth league activity (presumably by the Dwarf-Giraffe Athletic League), but then the following December that this was no longer the case.
As of the start of 2008, pick-up games were occurring fairly regulalry -- including Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday and Sunday morning -- but had been curtailed when the Parks Dept. no longer left the lights on late enough for play.
Outdoor rink in Fort Totten Park, between the Cross Island Expressway and Long Island Sound just east of the Throgg's Neck Bridge. As of December 2007 it was in poor shape (and had been for some time)
and considered unsafe by some players.
In Kissena Corridor Park East, by the intersection of Peck Ave. and 189th St., there is a playground area painted for rollerhockey.
Staten Island
The indoor roller rink at Sports Fest runs year-round leagues. Call 718-980-1500.
Also on Staten Island is the Ocean Roller Hockey League. Call 718-967-9873 for info.
Professional Rollerhockey
Major League Roller Hockey:
The league usually has teams in the metro area, but the names and venues seem to change now and again.
In 2005, the men's team was the New York Rockers, playing in Edison, N.J., and there was no women's team.
See MLRH website for the latest about MLRH, the current league structure and teams, venues, etc.
Roller Hockey International:
This league peaked around 1994 or 1995 and has long since folded. RHI had a checkered history, annually alternating between expansion and dropping teams. It last played in 1999.
The New Jersey Rockin Rollers played at the Continental Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, NJ, from 1992-1997, and the Long Island Jawz played at the Nassau Coliseum in 1996.
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