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The New York City Inline Skating Guide
Where to Skate: Rinks
Yes, that is a lot of cross-outs in the rink list above. Unfortunately, due to a variety of factors several well-known rinks closed during the 2005-07 period.
Inline skaters should note that roller rinks which have wooden and other non-concrete surfaces often have a restriction on skates which might damage the floor. Usually this is in regards to exposed bolts in the frames. If you have an older style of inline skates, you may want to contact the rink in advance to find out whether your skates are rink-legal.
Chelsea Piers Roller Rinks
Pier 62, 23rd St. at West Side Hwy.
Rink no longer exists. After about ten years of use, the rink and skatepark
on Pier 62 were ripped out in 2006 and the space is now part of the waterside park.
Supposedly there are plan to rebuild Pier 62 and a skatepark might re-appear here in 2009.
Riverbank State Park
679 Riverside Drive at 145th St.;
212-694-3600
nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=75
There is a rink in this public park, just northeast of the football/soccer field. It doubles as an ice and roller rink, with rollerhockey and open rollerskating available during the summer. The latter sessions can be crowded with many folks from the neighborhoods across Riverside Dr. The atmosphere is very much that of a neighborhood rink, with the usual collection of skate rats zipping around randomly at knee level, and early forays into courtship rituals by teen-agers. Although the rink is partially open to the elements (there is a roof and a clear, plastic fence about six feet high), sound doesn't seem to disperse much and it can get pretty noisy.
The Roxy
The famed dance/roller club on West 18th St. closed in spring 2007.
It re-opened within a couple months under the name "Club 515", but that apparently lasted only a month or so before it closed again.
![[photo]](/nyc/pix/wollman_01a.jpg)
Wollman Memorial Rink
Central Park Loop (east side) at approx. 63rd St. (enter the park at either the Fifth or Sixth Ave. entrance on Central Park South and walk/skate north about four blocks);
(212) 439-6900;
www.wollmanskatingrink.com, info@wollmanskatingrink.com
Famous for the ice skating here during the winter, this park has in the past been converted to roller use from April through October. Wollman was also intermittently a hotbed for quad dance skating and rollerhockey leagues, but this varied from year to year, depending on rink policy, which in turn depended on the company holding the rink concession from the Parks Dept.
As of the end of 2007, it has been now been several years (at least three, and perhaps five), since Wollman has had any sort of summer skating program at all. Instead they have turned the rink into a mini-amusement park during the warm weather months.
Empire Roller Skating Center
Property was sold and the rink was closed permanently in April 2007.
RollerJam USA
236 Richmond Valley Road, Tottenville;
718-605-6600;
www.rollerjamusa.com
Rink newly opened in July 2007.
And unless we've lost track of things, this is the only indoor, year-round roller rink in the city.
Reported to be a bit small and has a non-wood floor, but has plenty of leather couches for relaxing on when off your skates.
It already seems to have become fairly popular and is drawing good crowds.
Skate Key Skate and Dance Family Center
The Key was a rink in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx.
It closed permanently in March 2006.
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