Brooklyn is pretty chill!
In addition to the new skating spot high above Williamsburg, Brooklyn offers plenty of ground-level opportunities to get on the ice. Here are five spots, both new and old, where you can strap on the skates!
Downtown
Brooklyn’s newest ice arena opened just last week in MetroTech Plaza Downtown. The Rink at MetroTech Commons is fairly modest in size, but there are rarely more than a few people on the ice. The space, operated by Brookfield Properties, also offers private and semi-private skating lessons from the husband-and-wife Olympic ice dancing team of Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov, which start at $40.
Rink at MetroTech Commons (2 Metrotech Center at Downtown, www.therinkatmtc.com). Open Mon–Thu, 2–8 pm; Fri, 2–9 pm; Sat, 10 am–9 pm; Sun, 10 am–7 pm. $15 ($5 skate rental).
Industry City
Sunset Park’s nightlife hub offers an ice skating rink in an outdoor courtyard, right beside a half-dozen spots to cool off with a drink afterwards. The rink hosts special theme nights, and this weekend will go retro with all ’80s music on Friday and Saturday nights. The rink is usually closed on Mondays, but will stay open on Martin Luther King Day (Jan. 20) from 10 am–6 pm.
Industry City Courtyard 5-6 (220 36th St. between Second and Third avenues in Sunset Park, www.industrycity.com/ice-rink). Open Wed–Thu, 4–8 pm; Fri, 11 am–8 pm; Sat, 10 am–8 pm; Sun, 10 am–6 pm. $10 ($6 kids; skate rental $9).
Prospect Park
The two rinks (one covered, one outside) at Prospect Park’s LeFrak Center offer plenty of opportunities to glide across the ice, even while curling and hockey leagues meet in the evenings.
LeFrak Center at Lakeside (171 E. Drive in Prospect Park, enter on Ocean Avenue between Parkside Avenue and Lincoln Road, www.prospectpark.org). Open Mon, 9 am–5 pm; Tue–Thu, 9 am–7 pm; Fri, 9 am–9 pm;
Sat, noon–9 pm; Sun, noon–5 pm. Admission $7.50 weekdays, $11 Sat, Sun, Friday nights, and holidays. Skate rental $8.
Coney Island
Move quick! The Ice Rink at Coney Island’s Abe Stark Arena might not be around much longer — the city has plans to demolish the place and replace it with a new, more modern arena. For now, the enormous ice rink is open to the public just two hours a week.
Abe Stark Skating Arena [Surf Avenue at 19th Street in Coney Island, (718) 253–8919, www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/iceskating/1]. Open Saturdays, 2–4 pm. $9 ($5 skate rental).
Marine Park
The Olympic hockey-sized ice rinks at the Aviator Sports Complex are open year-round for public skating. And on some weekends, you can take to the ice on it new bumper cars instead of on your feet!
Aviator Sports Complex (3159 Flatbush Ave. off the Belt Parkway in Marine Park, www.aviatorsports.com). Mon–Thu, 11 am–-3:45 pm; Fri, 11 am–-3:45 pm and 7:40 pm–midnight; Sat, 1:45 pm– 5:50 pm and 7:30 pm–midnight; Sun, 12:30–6 pm. $12 (skate rental $6).
