Apologies for not keeping this fully up to date of late…
As skating fans know, there has been a lot of good skating news in New York this year:
- Dreamland Rink in Coney Island served as a dance party venue in late summer and early fall weekends. What will 2009 hold for the Childs Restaurant Building?
- Crazy Legs Skate Club opened up for skating on Wednesday nights at a Brooklyn neighborhood Salvation Army gymnasium. Watch this excellent piece from WABC local news.
- Gotham Girls Roller Derby held nine bouts at LIU-Brooklyn and Hunter College, attracting an average of 810 fans per bout. The Gotham All-Stars advanced to the WFTDA Nationals in mid-November (Portland, OR). Some of the excellent press for the league in 2008 includes writeups from SNY, NYC24, Reader’s Digest, Newsweek, and FirstLookNY. Gotham Girls tryouts coming up December 6!
- The New York Shock Exchange stayed undefeated with victories in Connecticut, Massachusettes, Illinois, and New Jersey.
Yet with all the enthusiasm for skating in the city, there is still no permanent indoor dedicated facility for roller sports. The success of the new part-time skate clubs surely demonstrates the skating community’s appetite for a full-time facility.
Coney Island Update - Dreamland Rink, March 22!
0 Comments Published March 21st, 2008 in Announcements, BrooklynBy now most NYC skaters should know that March 22 marks the opening of Dianna Carlin’s Dreamland Rink in Coney Island.
Good article about it from The Gowanus Lounge
Details from Dianna at the Lola Staar Myspace
Tomorrow night we’ll all be learning a lot about this facility’s ’skateability’ and permanence. There are columns and potential floor issues to work out, and the building’s owners certainly haven’t handed the keys over to anyone to make it a year-round skating rink, but this is a great step forward.
Come out to Coney Island to show support for more skating facilities in NYC! Rumor has it that many more people have RSVP’d than the building can accomodate, so come early.
Encouraging news from Coney Island, from the March 6 2008 Brooklyn Daily Eagle: Coney Island Roller Rink Actually Going to Happen
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by Sarah Ryley, published online 03-03-2008 For decades, Brooklynites have grown accustomed to being dazzled by pie-in-the-sky drawings heralded as Coney Island’s second coming, only to be disappointed when they collect dust along with the others. Lola Staar entrepreneur Dianna Carlin’s dream of installing a seaside temporary roller rink didn’t make such ambitious claims, but does promise to add some pizzazz to a place that’s changed little over the years besides the occasional clearing of another lot. In a recent conversation with Carlin about an upcoming red carpet party to “save Coney Island,” she told the Eagle details are being finalized to install a temporary roller rink near the boardwalk. She double promised her partners she wouldn’t divulge their names or the location until the big announcement, expected within the next few weeks. But it’s totally going to happen. The surface would either be paved or portable, like a massive roll of linoleum similar to what the Gotham Girls Roller Derby team has been using since the city’s last roller rink shut down. Now, they don’t have to lug it around with them everywhere (one Derby girl said it takes three hours to set up), they can come to Coney Island. While not “the most fantastic roller skating surface on Earth,” the rink would likely make up for irregularities with kitsch. The closest interior design reference to the hot pink boardwalk boutique Lola Staar would probably be Yaffa’s in the East Village, but with brighter colors. |
Could Manhattan’s Pier 40 provide a home for New York’s roller sports?
The New York Times reports on January 30 that “Pier 40 is at the heart of a battle over big development as well as a debate about the role of private developers and public property in an era of diminishing resources, when politicians are reluctant to raise taxes for amenities like parks.”
See the article, “Village Wants to Keep Its Fields as They Are” by Charles Bagley, here.
Meanwhile, Theresa Agovino of Crain’s New York Business reports in its Jan 21-27, 2008 issue about “Pier 40 Development: Race Against Time.”
A free on-line subscription is required to read the full article, but here are some interesting excerpts:
Time is running out on Pier 40.
The 14-acre pier, part of Hudson River Park and the source of nearly half of its maintenance budget, is crumbling and could face condemnation in the next few years. The site is currently home to community ball fields and houses a building used primarily as a parking garage.
But controversy swirls around redevelopment options. Two proposals emerged from a formal request issued by the Hudson River Park Trust 17 months ago, but neither has widespread community or political support. The Related Companies wants to build an entertainment complex on the parcel, while the “People’s Pier” proposal would include a school, a day camp, and a marina. A community group called the Pier 40 Partnership has entered the fray with a last-minute option, which includes creating a school, galleries and artists’ studios, but it is more a concept than a plan.
Nevertheless, Diana Taylor, chairwoman of the Hudson River Park Trust, says the board must move redevelopment forward when it meets at the end of this month.
“The board needs to take a next step. Doing nothing is not an option,” says Ms. Taylor.
… Ms. Taylor says the process is challenging because the desires of the community, which covets a safe place for children to play, must be balanced with the need for the pier to generate funds.
… Ms. Taylor says the pier will have to contribute between $8 million and $10 million a year as more of it is finished.
… Ms. Taylor says it will cost $125 million just to fix the pier’s pilings, bring the structure up to building code and repair the roof.
The remainder of the article discusses financial specifics of the various proposals. It is this writer’s opinion that a rollersports facility could generate the targeted annual revenue from usage fees, sponsorships, concessions, and broadcast rights.
The “People’s Pier” proposal was submitted by nonprofit Urban Dove and camp operator CampGroup.
A few local media outlets carried stories last week about plans for a new Coney Island rink, to be developed by Dianna Carlin (owner of the Lola Staar boutique on Coney Island’s boardwalk).
From the City Limits article linked below:
Still in the negotiating phase, Carlin envisions building an eccentric venue that offers wholesome family entertainment in the daytime and burlesque-meets-disco themed parties for adults. “DJs on their turntables, disco balls, performance art and a big circuit tent over it,” gushes Carlin. “It’s going to be tons of fun.”
Details are still emerging, and we (moderator) have a meeting lined up with Ms. Carlin to find out more; stay tuned for more on that. For now, here’s what’s been talked about in the press/blogsphere:
New York Post: Coney I. Dares To Rink Big (January 2, 2008)
City Limits: Skating Rink By The Sea? (January 7, 2008)
Prospect Park, Brooklyn — Lakeside Center
1 Comment Published January 4th, 2008 in Brooklyn, Press StoriesThe blog gets kicked off first by catching up with a few news stories about the demand for roller sports facilities in New York City.
First, a series of articles with encouraging news about planned outdoor rinks called the Lakeside Center in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, “expected to open in November 2010.”
From Courier-Life Publications, June 28, 2007. By Stephen Witt:
Put Roller Rink in Park, Community Says
The Prospect Park Alliance last week said they are considering placing a roller skating rink on a seasonal basis as part of its planned $39 million renovation of the 46-year-old Wollman Ice Skating Rink.
The move comes amid pressure from City Councilmember Letitia James and roller skating advocates, who have decried the recent closing of the Empire Rolling Rink, 200 Empire Boulevard.
The Wollman Rink is located off Ocean Avenue with the closest street entrances at Lincoln Road and Parkside Avenue – both on the Empire Boulevard and Flatbush Avenue side of the park.
Dubbed the Lakeside Center, preliminary plans for the project call for a 38,000-square-foot building and two ice rinks located adjacent to the existing Wollman Rink on a site that is currently a parking lot.
Thus far, the project has received $25 million in funding including $7.5 million each from Mayor Bloomberg, Borough President Marty Markowitz and the City Council.
Close to $1 million in federal funding was also secured for the project by Rep. Anthony Weiner and former Rep. Major Owens.
“I really feel that there is no [PPA] concerns about the needs and desires of minorities,” said Tanya Odums, a roller skating advocate, who heads the non-profit organization HYPE (Helping Young People Excel) which has a roller skating program in the borough for kids.
Continue reading ‘Prospect Park, Brooklyn — Lakeside Center’
Hello and welcome to the NYC Rollersports Coalition!
The goal of this organization is to facilitate the establishment of an indoor roller sports rink in New York City, supporting a variety of ‘wheeled’ amateur sports.
Each group has been negatively affected by recent New York City rink closings. The NYC Rollersports Coalition represents these groups’ common interests and serves to consolidate their voices and efforts to re-establish home venues.
Please browse the pages of this site to learn more about the many members of the New York City rollersports scene and the shared goals of these vibrant groups.
Blog entries will be periodically made in the future to announce upcoming events and developments toward the establishment of an indoor skating facility.
If you would like to share a vision for an indoor facility or a story about New York City skating, please mail it in for posting.
And if you are with a skating group in the city which would like to be added to the rolls of the NYC Rollersports coalition, please give a shout. (See: Contact).
To borrow a phrase, “If you build it, we will roll!”
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