Where to Skate: Manhattan South

• Hudson River Park
• Downtown
• Greenwich Village
• Midtown

Hudson River Park

A great place to skate is the bike/skate/ped path running alongside the Hudson River north from Chambers St. up past Chelsea Piers (i.e., 23rd St.) and beyond. Eventually, it links to the promenade in Riverside Park,

Bikepath in what is now Hudson River Park

which means you can skate along or close to the river all the way up to about 83rd St.

Often called the West Side Bikepath until the late 1990s, this path is now a part of Hudson River Park, the strip of shoreline plus all the piers from Chambers St., on the north side of Battery Park City, up to 59th St. Like all New York public works projects, the park has seen and will continue to see its share of political wrangling, but construction has made significant progress, and some portions of the park are complete.

One part that is 95% complete is the bikepath. The path is double width (for north and south travel), and runs along the street side of the park. In many places, there are planted dividers between the path and the highway and between the path and the waterfront promenade. The asphalt is generally super sa-moooth, having been laid down during 1999-2002. Lighting is also pretty good for skating at night.

(Note: The path actually extends south of Chambers St., and out of Hudson River Park. The idea is that it should continue along West St. for several more blocks and finally come to an end at Battery Park. However, the two blocks from Vesey St. down to Liberty St. lie alongside the World Financial Center and across the street from the World Trade Center site, and so are likely to remain uncompleted for some time while recovery and reconstruction work continues. For the time being, then, the farthest south one can skate on the path is to Vesey St.)

As you can imagine, the path usually sees a lot of activity on weekend afternoons from skaters, cyclists and joggers, and traffic is both ways, so please keep your head screwed on when skating at that time. Additionally, pay attention for people who want to pass you from behind. A lot of skaters strap on their headphones and skate along sedately, totally oblivious to any traffic jam of cyclists and skaters that might be building up behind them. Finally, the area around Pier 40 (i.e., between Houston and Christopher Sts.) seems to be an incredibly popular spot for people to hang out in the evening, and into the night on weekends, so be extra cautious there if you're out late.

Aside from possible congestion, the only problems with the path are the reflective tape put down to mark pedestrian access across the path and into the park, as it can be pretty slick and awkward to skate on if you have any speed. Additionally, the paving is brick around many of these access points, especially in the north, and can be awkward to skate on at any speed faster than a crawl. These issues probably do point out another possible problem, and that is having to deal with cross traffic at a number of locations, including the Pier 40 parking garage near Canal St., the Chelsea Piers complex, the ferry dock near 35th St., and the USS Intrepid museum. The area from 35th up to 55th Sts. seems to be especially problematic.

A few of the piers sticking out into the Hudson River are open to pedestrian access. The asphalt on most of them is often quite messed up and unskateable, but some are okay. The concrete pier leading out to the Holland Tunnel ventilation tower should be okay for a slow scenic roll when it's open.

Downtown
(Below Houston St.)

Battery Park City:
For recreational skaters, perhaps the best place in lower Manhattan to skate is this area lying between West St. and the Hudson River and running from Battery Park up to Chambers St. At the northern end, by Stuyvesant High School, one can then connect to the Hudson River Park bikepath.

Actually, it's probably not quite correct to recommend Battery Park City itself, when what most people mean is the park and esplanade along the river side of this area. I've heard it called Hudson River Park, but that name more accurately applies to the waterfront promenade which runs north from Chambers St.

BPC Esplenade near the mercantile exchange

Anyway, roughly speaking, the area in BPC may be divided into three parts, Wagner Park, the central esplanade and Rockefeller Park, with the dividing points being the South Cove and North Cove. But in all three areas, there are signs indicating paths which are off-limits to skaters and cyclists, and rangers do enforce the regulations.

On the south end of Battery Park City, immediately adjacent to Battery Park, is Wagner Park, which includes the Holocaust Memorial and some very interesting statuary. Although the entire BPC waterfront is scenic, this may be the most scenic of all, offering a terrific view of the Statue of Liberty. However, the area is not terribly large and the signs indicating which areas are no-skating can be confusing. So pop in, take a look around, but don't expect to spend much time here.

North of Wagner Park, the many buildings in Battery Park City come almost to the river's edge, leaving only a pleasant esplanade along which to skate. The walkway is divided into two levels by trees and bushes, and skating, cycling, etc. are barred from the upper, inland path. (Again, park rangers and/or security guards will be more than happy to point this out should you err.) There also tend to be many sight-seers and romantic couples walking the esplanade, so while it's scenic, it's not particularly the best place to do much skating. However, near the north end of the central esplanade is the plaza between the North Cove and the Winter Garden (a huge atrium in one of the buildings of the World Financial Center), where things are bit more wide-open, although it can still be crowded with pedestrians on nice days.

Right next to the mercantile exchange building (a very congested spot due to the ferry landing also located here), the riverside esplanade continues into Nelson Rockefeller Park, probably the best section of Battery Park City for skating as it is larger, is more wide open and probably has somewhat fewer pedestrians. The only problem is that there do tend to be a lot of kids running around, so keep an eye out for knee-high, random missiles.

The stairs at the north end of Rockefeller Park make some good bashing, but while skaters (especially Stuyvesant students) can often be seen there, it's a no-no. There're often some park security folks wandering around in little white trucks, and whenever they get to the steps, they chase away anybody they catch skating on them. Periodically, they get tough about it and may even try to confiscate skates.

Several potential points of conflict between pedestrians, cyclists and skaters were mentioned above. BPC authorities became concerned enough about this that they adopted a preliminary plan in early 1997 for dealing with it. A copy can can be found on the the Central Park Skate Patrol website.

Battery Park:
By the way, most of the paths in Battery Park are pretty smooth, but the large number of tourists passing through here on the way to the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island ferries makes skating here during the day a bad idea. It's nicer during the evening.

East River Bikepath:
There is a marked bikepath, separate from the street, which runs along the East River from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Manhattan Bridge. It is parallel to South St., directly below the FDR, and lies between the parking area and the waterfront promenade. However, this is prime tourist/pedestrian territory, so watch it along here.

Cherry St.:
There is an outdoor rollerhockey rink with some okay asphalt at Martin F. Tanahey Playground, located at Cherry and Market Sts. behind the New York Post's offices. However, I have heard some very negative comments about the safety of the neighborhood. It's hard for me to tell as I've never visited the rink except on night skates with at least 15 other people.

Dr. Sun Yat Sen Intermediate School (IS 131):
At the northeast corner of Canal and Chrystie Sts., right across Canal from the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge and immediately adjacent to Intermediate School 131, is what appears to be a paved-over football field. By this I mean that it is a paved area of about that size and dimensions and it has some small seating areas along the sides. The surface is in decent shape for skating, excepting a couple of major cracks. The lighting here is also good. Thus, this would seem to be a great place for a pick-up rollerhockey game or for wide-open skate tag. There also used to be markings painted along one side which seemed to indicate that someone was using the area to skate laps, but the field has since been re-painted and the markings are gone.

Immediately north of this "field" is the south end of Sara Delano Roosevelt Park, a collection of park benches, planters, etc., which look like they might make some okay grinding for aggro skaters.

Brooklyn Banks

Downtown Aggressive Skating:
Near the East River, directly underneath the Brooklyn Bridge by the intersection of St. James Place and Wagner Place, there is an area known as the Brooklyn Banks. There are some rails here plus a ramp-like area known as the Wall which are popular among aggro inliners, skateboarders and BMX bikers, despite the brick surfaces and the broken glass strewn liberally about. Police headquarters is two blocks away, but the area is fairly secluded so that it's perhaps not a great idea to skate here alone, especially after dark.

At the southwest corner of Broadway and Liberty St., directly across the street from the Marine Midland Bank's "Red Cube", this park has some nice stairs and such for aggressive skaters. But stay out during weekday business hours, as lots of financial types go here to escape their offices.

State Courthouse on Foley Square

Besides Liberty Square and the Brooklyn Banks, there are numerous plazas in the downtown area which are skateable and are perfect for grinding, bashing, and rail slides. Perhaps the greatest of these is the rebuilt 30-step sequence on the front of the state courthouse on Foley Square (60 Centre St.). However, security guards are usually keeping an eye out for something to do and chasing off skaters does relieve their boredom.

Greenwich Village
(Houston St. to 14th St.)

There are four marked north-south bike lanes in the Village area, two on the east side and two on the west.

On the east side, a lane runs up Lafayette St. from Spring St. to Astor Place, where it switches over to Fourth Ave. for a couple blocks on the way to its terminus at 14th St. near Union Square. (Also good for uptown travel on the east side is First Ave. between 5th and 23rd Sts., as it was repaved in the summer of 1996.) Southward bound is a lane on Second Ave. from 14th St. down to Houston.

On the west side, a bike lane runs up Hudson St. from Spring St. to Eighth Ave.; it then switches over to Eighth Ave. for a couple blocks and terminates at 14th St. And on the westernmost edge of the Village is the new bikepath along West St. in Hudson River Park.

Washington Square Park:
The pavement in Washington Square Park is in generally poor shape. This plus a usually high density of pedestrian traffic makes this a crummy place to go skating. Add to that the occasional efforts to clean up the park, which include ticketing skaters amongst such other activities as rousting the marijuana dealers.

Tompkins Square Park:
The paths in Tompkins Square Park (bordered by Avenues A and B and East 7th and 10th Sts.) are in terrific shape. So, if you can find a time when pedestrian traffic is minimal, this would be a great place for newbies to do some learning.

On the north (10th St.) side of the park there are stickball and basketball courts. The former has an incredibly smooth surface, useful for even advanced skaters to practice their stuff, and the latter is used by the NIBBL roller basketball league during summer weekend mornings.

The quality of the neighborhoods near Tompkins Square Park has had a mixed reputation, varying block to block, but in the 1990s it became progressively more gentrified. Today, the biggest problem is probably the large number of nightclubs in the area, especially to the west, which means pretty high traffic density on narrow and not well-lit streets.

East River Park:
This park stretches from Jackson St. south of the Williamsburg Bridge up to 15th St. and has a riverside promenade the whole way. But if you're thinking about skating here, I have two words of advice: Don't Bother.

The condition of most of the park is pretty shoddy, and the promenade is a "fine" example of this. Large cracks are numerous and small sinkholes lie seemingly everywhere, waiting for unwary skaters. I've also heard some negative comments about park safety at night, but given the crummy skating conditions, I'd be more worried about breaking a leg than I would about being mugged.

Note: The above paragraph about the promenade was written in 1996. The New York Times reported on July 2, 2001, that the promenade had just been closed when it was discovered that about 80% of the pilings supporting it were seriously deteriorated. Repairs are expected to take two to three years, and the promenade will be closed for the duration.

Midtown
(14th St. to 59th St.)

Several of the avenues in Midtown are generally good skating for those travelling north-south because of the bicycle/skating lanes which they sport on the left side of the street. For uptown travel,

Night skating in Times Square.

there is a bike lane on Sixth Ave. from 9th St. to 42nd St. Eighth and Tenth Aves. are also okay for uptown travel but are not in as good a shape as they were a couple years ago.

Heading downtown, there is a bike lane which runs down Broadway  from Columbus Circle to Union Square and another on Fifth Ave. from Madison Square to Washington Square. (Unfortunately, though, the asphalt on Broadway from 42nd St. down to 36th St. is really rough, and in certain areas the bike lane is pretty much unskateable.) Other downtown-bound avenues in good shape but without bike lanes are Lexington, Fifth, and Seventh Aves.

Warning: Midtown is a high auto traffic area -- Webster's dictionary defines "gridlock" as Midtown at 5 PM on a weekday -- and the bike lanes usually disappear for a block where the avenues cross Broadway.

Also, see the Hudson River Park section above for details about a bikepath along the westernmost edge Midtown.

The Chelsea Piers, Roxy, and Rivergate skating rinks all lie between 14th and 59th Sts. There is also a skatepark at Chelsea Piers.

Union Square:
Union Square can be a fun place to skate after dark or on Sunday, when the greenmarket crowds are gone. The north side of the square, along 17th St., is a large, wide-open paved area where you'll often see newbies trying out their new wheels and more experienced skaters practicing dancing moves, maybe playing a pickup game of rollerhockey, or even doing some slaloming or ramp jumps. If you skate here on a Tuesday night, just be sure to stay out of the way of members of the Society for Creative Anachronism who are whacking at each other with swords. Not only is it a good idea to maintain good relations

NIBBL action at Union Square

with fellow park users, but those simulated broadswords they use can really hurt.

On the south side, along 14th St., there are a lot of shallow steps that are great for practicing stair bashes and curb grinds. There are some signs mounted on lamp posts on the south end of Union Square park that say, "No skateboarding no rollerblading [sic]", However, enforcement of whatever ban there might be seems to be episodic. There've been some evenings when I've been there for 30-45 minutes, watching skaters or boarders bashing and grinding away without any harassment. On one of these occasions there was even a cop who was coolly watching the scene but leaving the skaters alone. On the other hand, there are supposed to be park rangers who are not always so passive, and I have on occasion during daylight hours seen a Parks Dept. Bronco parked at the top of the steps, presumably with the idea that it would deter skating activity.

Robert Moses Playground:
Just across 42nd St. from the United Nations is Robert Moses Playground, a very smooth asphalt area which is painted for rollerhockey, with organized league play on weekends. The only deficiencies are that the playground has a slope (the south end is low) and that it's occasionally cluttered with twigs. Most of the gates are locked at night, but the one at the southwest corner is usually open around the clock.