Where to Skate: Manhattan North

• Riverside Park
• Upper West Side and Morningside Heights
• Upper East Side and East Harlem
• Harlem
• Inwood and Washington Heights

Riverside Park

Lying along the Hudson River from 72nd St. to 116th St., Riverside Park might be best described as being in three tiers. The upper tier is the sidewalk promenade immediately adjacent to Riverside Dr., a walkway mostly paved with hexagonal bricks. In general, these bricks are pretty worn and the skating is bad.

Along the west side of the upper tier the land drops off sharply and in many places, it's essentially a cliff. Below this drop-off is the middle tier of Riverside Park, perhaps the widest of the three

Riverside Park in the 100s

tiers and probably the most used. There are various walkways and paths winding north-south, and in general, the skating here is pretty good, with a few notable exceptions.

The middle tier north of 96th St. tends to be quieter, and the paths in a bit better shape. There is a long, flat straightaway in the 100s that is a good place for newbie skaters to practice on (it's where I got started), and there are recently reconstructed paths in the 110s which are very pleasant. Much of this northern area lies below a canopy of trees and so the paths can get pretty twiggy.

South of 96th St., the middle tier gets much busier, with many baby carriages and loose dogs. Also, the paths are in generally poorer condition, and in some places in the 70s, downright decrepit. A reconstruction project has been working its way northward from 72nd St. so perhaps that area will be good skating on all paths sometime soon. When crossing 96th St. to the northern section, it is easier and safer to take the Riverside Dr. overpass rather than follow park paths and try to cross 96th itself, which is also an on/off-ramp from the Henry Hudson Parkway.

The lowest tier of Riverside Park is a strip level with the Henry Hudson Parkway and the Hudson River. To the south, it is mostly between the river and the highway, but there is an area in the high 90s and through the 100s where this tier also extends east of the highway and includes ball fields and such. Note that Riverside Skate Park lies in this area at about 108th St.

Riverside Park promenade by the boat basin (top) and in the 90s (bottom)

Immediately alongside the river, Riverside Park has a promenade/path which runs down to the north of Hudson River Park at 59th St. (from whence you can skate all the way down to Battery park City) and up to St. Clair Place (very close to the Fairway grocery at 133rd St. Not all of the path is paved and skateable, as there's a ten-block chunk in the 80s and low 90s which is narrow dirt and gravel. But you can get in a good skate if you try one of the sections above or below the roguh area.

The southern part of the path is the promenade from 59th St. up to about 83rd St. The walkway is fairly wide but does see quite a bit of pedestrian traffic above 72nd St. and especially near the boat basin at 79th St. where barricades are sometimes put out to slow down speeding cyclists. Note that the new extension of the path from 70th St. Pier down to 59th, linking up with the Hudson River Park path, is poorly lit -- actually not lit at all. So while it's smooth as of this writing (summer 2002), it could become potentially quite dangerous for night skating in a year or two unless lighting is installed.

The north section of the promenade begins at about 93rd St., and from there you can skate an unbroken two miles up to St. Clair Place. The path is a wide promenade up to 100th St. (watch out for pedestrians by the tennis courts at 96th St.), then narrows a bit and becomes more of a paved trail. Because there is no access to the path between 100th St. and St. Clair Place, you probably won't see a lot of other people in this section, but you will have to be cautious about sand and gravel blown across the path, plus the occasional broken bottle. It's also pretty noisy from the adjacent highway.

The path from 100th to St. Clair Place is relatively new (c. 2000) and was paved a couple years after plans were first announced. The local community boards have for several years also been looking to upgrade the unpaved narrow trail from 83rd St. to 93rd, but there's been no word on when that will happen and the idea. The idea is complicated by the fact that widening the path would mean cantilevering it out over the river.

Upper West Side and Morningside Heights

The avenues of the Upper West Side are in generally good condition, but none have a bike/skate lane. In the best shape are all of Central Park West (repaved in stages from 1998-2001), Amsterdam (repaved in summer 1998 and summer 2000), all of Columbus Ave. (repaved 1995-1996).

Riverside Dr.

and Riverside Drive. Broadway was repaved in the late 1990s but several sections have since been chewed up by utilities digging trenches in the street; for example, the southbound lane from 116th St. down to 92nd is just about shot.

In general, CPW is probably best for northbound travel, especially since a bike lane was specifically marked in late 2001. Amsterdam is also okay for uptown travel, but watch out for the cabbies timing the traffic lights. Columbus or perhaps Central Park West is probably best for going south, especially south of the hill at 92nd St. If you're on Broadway, beware the dangerous intersections at 65th, 71st, and 95th Sts.

Lincoln Center:
The plaza at Lincoln Center is an okay skate. It's flat but the stone panels are getting worn and don't match up that cleanly any more. And while I've skated there without trouble, it has been reported that security does kick skaters out, albeit very politely.

American Museum of Natural History:
There are tasty stairs at the main (east) entrance to the museum, along Central Park West, which aggressive skaters may enjoy. In fact, aggro skaters are occasionally seen doing so after dark, but they sensibly avoid the place during hours when the museum is open.

Columbia University:
There are lots of good stairs and rails on the Columbia University campus for bashers and grinders to play on. However, there are also lots of security droids to limit the enjoyment thereof.

R'hockey at Carl Schurz Park

Upper East Side and East Harlem

When travelling up and down the Upper East Side, I have found that Second and Third Aves. provide the best skating. There is also a bike lane over on First Ave., from 72nd St. up to 125th St. Be careful using Fifth Ave., as long segments of it are curb-to-curb traffic.

Carl Schurz Park
Between East End Ave. and the East River at 86th St., this park has some very skateable paths and some very unskateable paths. There is one large open asphalt area where a lot of the neighborhood kids play rollerhockey; the asphalt was laid down in late 1995 or early 1996 and is in good condition. Dog-walking is a major activity here, so keep your eyes open. Also watch out for Mayor Rudolph Giuliani; the official mayor's residence is at the north end of the park and the mayor was known to occasionally skate here in the 1990s.

Stanley M. Isaacs Park:
This park at East 96th St. and First Ave. includes an outdoor rollerhockey rink, with renovation of the rink completed in late 2000. Although this location has long been something of a hockey hotbed, it suffered in the late 1990s because the Parks Dept. had been letting conditions at the park slide. With the renovation and the maintenance program being set up by the Isaacs Park Association, skating action here should return to its former glory and hopefully stay that way for a long time to come.

East River Esplanade:
Lying between FDR Drive and the East River is the East River Esplanade. It extends from just north of the Queensborough Bridge north to the Triborough Bridge, which is to say, from 63rd St. to 125th St. The name "East River Esplanade" is not the official name of the promenade, as there are signs calling it the "John Finley Walk" immediately adjacent to Carl Schurz Park and the "Bobby Wagner Walk" from Gracie Mansion up to the Triborough. Also, as of December 1998, there is renewed discussion going on to extend the esplanade up to 145th St., based on a plan drafted in 1991. However, at last word, the Parks Dept. and other organizations were still trying to scrounge up the $15 million estimated price tag.

East River Esplanade in the 110s

The esplanade is primarily surfaced with hexagonal bricks and is very skateable. The only major exception to this is the portion right next to Carl Schurz Park, where the bricks are pretty worn and bumpy. Also, the grooved cement slope providing access to the 63rd St. end from 60th St. does some wicked work on your thigh muscles, so it may be safer to enter/exit on the south end via the pedestrian overpass near the hospital at 63rd St. Other trouble spots are the 60-step stairway at 81st St. and some places in the 110s where light repairs are needed. Finally, the promenade can be a bit narrow south of 81st St.

Because FDR Drive separates much of the East River Esplanade from nearby businesses or residences, it can be a very secluded skate. So be cautious about skating it alone after dark.

Sticking right out into the East River is the East 110th St. Recreation Pier, an open but covered pavilion . Like much of the esplanade from which it projects, it is skateable, and wax marks on the steps indicate that aggressive skaters may sometimes be found here practicing their grinds. There is also a pedestrian bridge at 103rd St. which leads over to Wards Island.

Metropolitan Museum of Art:
Aggressive skaters may look at the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and think how fine they'd be for bashing, but be warned that museum security is on the lookout. There have been reports of guards walking up to skaters sitting on the steps and asking that they either remove their skates or get lost.

Harlem

St. Nicholas Ave. bike lane

For north-south travel through Harlem, bike lanes have been marked on both sides of St. Nicholas Ave. Condition of the asphalt is so-so pretty much the whole way, but the bike lanes are wider than, for instance, the one on Broadway in Midtown. The bike lanes start at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Ave. and 110th St. (the north edge of Central Park) and run north on ACP to 116th St., at which point they switch over to St. Nicholas for the long run up to the intersection of 168th St. and Broadway.

For safety reasons, some skaters will likely prefer to avoid the St. Nicholas bike lanes and instead use Riverside Dr. I've heard a couple of reports of female skaters being verbally harassed by neighborhood residents and of skaters having garbage thrown at them from passing cars, even though they were skating in large groups. The former problem has also been reported on Broadway in the 130s and 140s.

Riverbank State Park:
Between Riverside Dr. and the Hudson River, this is not a bad place to skate, and the view of the river is pleasant. The park is built over a waste treatment facility, but I've never noticed any kind of unusual aromas here. Entrances to the park are on Riverside Dr. at 138th and 145th Sts.

Many of Riverbank State Park's walkways are paved with brick with beveled edges. Thus, even though the park is fairly new, skating these walkways can be irksome. There are some extremely smooth handball and basketball courts at the south end of the park which newbies might like to skate on when they're not otherwise in use (good luck, though, as it appears that sports leagues keep them busy throughout the day).

There is a skating rink in Riverbank State Park, just northeast of the football/soccer field.

Upper Riverside Park:
You could probably surprise many Upper West Siders by telling them that there is a section of Riverside Park which extends all the way up to about 150th St. Nevertheless, there it is. Basically, there is a strip of green lying alongside the Hudson River north of Riverbank State Park which has a nice road and a decent view.

To reach the park from the south, you can walk down the covered stairway located in the northeast corner of Riverbank State Park, or you can skate up the service road used by the treatment plant. However, the service road is occasionally closed and there are a couple section which are pretty rough. From the north, there is parking lot accessible from the Henry Hudson Parkway or, even better, the paved trail which leads to Fort Washington Park.

Inwood and Washington Heights

See the Harlem section above for comments on the St. Nicholas Ave. bike lanes which come up to 168th St. The New Jersey section has commentary on skating to and over the George Washington Bridge.

Entering Ft. Washington Park.

Fort Washington Park:
Along the Hudson River directly below the George Washington Bridge lies a park well-favored by fishermen and tennis players. It's relative inaccessibility would seem to preclude its use by inline skaters. However, this strip of green between the Hudson River and the railroad tracks is a pretty place to skate, offering a 1.5-mile, decently paved road from about 158th St. up to the bridge and an absolutely gorgeous view of the river, the bridge overhead, etc. If you visit on a fall day when the leaves are turning, wow!

The problem then is how to get into the park. There are basically two possible routes. On the south end, you can either skate along the trail to the northern section of Riverside Park in the 140s. There is also a pedestrian bridge at this point which offers access over the Henry Hudson Parkway into the neighborhood at 155th St., but there is a vicious hill to navigate there.

The other access point is at the north end of the park. Riverside Dr. and the Henry Hudson Parkway merge just as they reach the GW Bridge, and about 50 yards past the bridge, there is a pathway leading from the west side of the northbound lane of the road down into the park. But be very cautious on this path because it is very steep and twisty. At one point, it passes between a couple boulders only about two feet apart. In other words, excellent braking skills are required here, or perhaps you should just walk.

Fort Tryon Park:
This park surrounding the Cloisters has some nice paths, but they are almost all fairly steep (no surprise, since the park includes

Dyckman Fields rollerhockey rink

the highest piece of ground in Manhattan at about 265 feet above sea level). Additionally, there are signs at the south end of the park indicating that "Rollerblading" is not allowed.

Inwood Hill Park:
In Dyckman Fields, a part of Inwood Hill Park right next to the Hudson River, there is a nice asphalt rollerhockey rink. To get to it, take Dyckman St. right down to where it stops at the Hudson River, and turn right. To the north you'll find a string of riverside soccer and softball fields. The rink is six fields up. There aren't very many paths in the park, so except for the rollerhockey rink, Dyckman Fields isn't that skateable. The rink itself supposedly has league games frequently scheduled, but the one time I've visited, there were just a half dozen miscellaneous skaters larking around.