Get ready for an icy winter in North Brooklyn.
A year after plans for a ice rink at McCarren Park Pool fell through, the rink finally opens today at 11 am, to the delight of borough skaters.
“I got tired of having to go to Manhattan to skate,” said Sasha Wendtz, who lives in Greenpoint. “I can walk to this one.”
The Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn will run the rink, which will be right in the middle of the newly renovated pool.
The alliance won the bid to open the rink last year, but then missed a deadline to apply for the equipment in the chaos that ensued after former executive director Stephanie Thayer stepped down.
The pool opened for swimming last year for the first time since 1984, dashing the hopes of Williamsburgers hoping for a return of the free summer concert series in the empty pool that made them feel like they were really a part of something from 2005 to 2011.
The rink will cover the center of the pool and will accommodate up to 300 skaters. Visitors can also use the same locker rooms and lockers that are open for swimmers. The coast corral will offer free lessons to anyone who shows up on opening day and will be open seven days a week from 11 am until 10 pm through January.
Its opening comes on the heel stops of the return of Coney Island’s Abe Stark Skating Rink and just a handful of salchow practices ahead of the Wollman Rink in Prospect Park, which is set to open in late December fresh off of a $74-million overhaul.
Admission will be $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and $4 for kids. Skates will rent for $5 a pair.
