I will be in NYC alot for work over the fall & winter. Other than the obvious, Central Park & Rockefeller Plaza, where can one get some real ice time? Thanks. My arenamaps.com does seem to be too helpful.
Many thanks.

Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers:
http://www.chelseapiers.com/sr01.htm

Freestyle sessions too! Have you skated there?

I have! Very, very nice, two pads - but sessions horrendously expensive, we thought!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

$13.50 US dollars for a PUBLIC SESSION!?!!?!? $23 for a SINGLE FREESTYLE SESSION!?!?!?! GOOD GRIEF!!!

My home rink only charges about half that of their public session. My weekend rink is Olympic size and charges even less than my home rink!!!! And I'm definitely NOT gonna discuss about their single freestyle session prices either!!! EEEEEK!!!!

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

That's for 50 minutes on a weekend. Even on Staten Island and in Brooklyn, freestyle ice is $21 for 1.5 hours. I think it reflects the generally higher cost of living in NYC and the higher cost of electricity in particular.

BTW, Arenamaps is accurate, there just aren't many rinks here.

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A 45 minute freestyle here is $7...eeks!

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- Ashley

Tessie,
IIRC, the Ice House in Hackensack is not only cheaper, but you're almost guaranteed celebrity sightings! Right guys???!!!

Jeez, I'm really getting away like a bandit where I am then! My rink has early afternoon, figure skating-only, public sessions for $3/session for town residents and $6 for non-residents. The sessions are 1hr 50min. The only bad thing is that you can't get lessons on them, you have to buy club ice which is later in the afternoon and ranges from $6.75-$9.00/hr depending on how much you buy. I just took a 2nd shift job that allows me to skate the public sessions.

No wonder most people in the NYC area skate at Hackensack. Aren't there non-Manhattan rinks too - Monsey?

Yup.

Yes, Skate-o-Rama in Monsey is a second rink for the Skating Club of New York. Chelsea Piers (Sky Rink) is their main rink. Sport-O-Rama does have public and freestyle ice, cheaper than Sky Rink. Here is their link:
http://www.sportorama.com/ However, it is not on a train line.

While you're in NYC, you should try to skate at Wollman and at Rockefeller Center. However, public ice at both of these places tends to be crowded, especially as you approach the Christmas season. Freestyle might be better if it's offered. Both are outdoors. There is also Lasker rink in Harlem, also outdoors, at the top of Central Park, I think. Less crowded than the others in the city, but the neighborhood at night is a little dodgy.

Here's a good one - New Roc City's ice rink. It's on a train line out of Grand Central Station, the Metro North. The rink is inside a mall across the street from the New Rochelle stop on the Metro North, only 1/2 hour from mid-town Manhattan. Lots of people from NYC skate up there:
http://www.newroccity.com/
Ice there, except on weekends, is pretty empty.

Will you have a car? Most skating in NYC gets done in the suburbs. There are nearby rinks in Yonkers, Hackensack (Oskana Baiul, Victor Petrenko, John Zimmerman), New Rochelle, Mt. Vernon, White Plains, Elmsford, Wayne(Victor, Sasha Zhulin, Tatiana Navka, etc. ) If you'll have a car, let me know. I skate at all of these. If you have no car, your best choices are those on the train lines:

New Roc City
Wollman
Rockefeller Center
Lasker Rink
Sky Rink

I believe there is also a rink in Queens, but I'm not sure if it's on the train.

I haven't been yet, had too much work stuff with me this week to contemplate bringing skates and deal w/ checking luggage. But my rink up here in the Boston suburbs charges $13 for a walk on for a 45 freestyle session. So $26 for 80 minute freestyle seems reasonable. I also heard from a fellow skater (he's a hockey player) that Chelsea Piers is a nice place to skate. That backs up Mrs. Red Boots' comment ealier. I'll let you know - Tess

When I skated at Chelsea Piers last February, it was freezing cold in the rink but the ice was beautiful. Smooth, well-kept, and fast! In fact, the first thought I had was to not push too hard because it was just so easy to go fast. The ice felt just right in terms of how hard it was, too.

Enjoy it if you skate there.

Pat

Actually, Zhulin, Navka, Kostamarov etc. are at Floyd Hall Arena, in Montclair NJ (not Wayne). That rink is on the university campus and there is a new train station on a line out of NYC that is right next to the rink. Rates are from $9 - $18/hour - depends on time of day, pass puchased & so on. You may want to check it out.

Yup, but I've been seeing them up in Wayne, so they must work up there occasionally.

Yeah - some of the Wayne & Simsbury people seem to come to Montclair sometimes too. It just seems to be a matter of ice times or working on something with people ion the other rinks, I think, don't you?