BY Aline Reynolds
The Battery Park City ice rink debuted last winter and was a hit with residents. While the Battery Park City Authority plans to reopen it, first it must find a new operator.
Rink Management Service Corporation and the B.P.C.A. mutually agreed to terminate their multi-year contract due to a series of weather and construction-related incidents.
“The Battery Park City Authority continues to believe that placing an ice skating rink on the ball fields is the proper way to extend public use of this open space throughout the winter months,” said Leticia Remauro B.P.C.A.’s vice president of community relations. “Therefore, we are committed to finding a vendor to operate it.”
The Request For Proposals to operate the rink closed last Friday, September 24.
“We are in the process of assessing responses we have received to determine whether we can have a rink in place for the 2010-11 season,” Remauro said.
The rink, which was open from November 2009 to February 2010, was closed off twice from the public last year when high winds blew debris on to the ball fields from the nearby construction sites. There were no reported injuries, but to ensure safety of the skaters, the N.Y.C. Department of Buildings appointed inspectors to evaluate the safety of the site and added netting to the perimeters of the buildings under construction.
Community Board 1 is sending B.P.C.A. a letter in the coming days asking that the rink be restored this winter.
“The community liked the idea of the ice rink last year and would enjoy having one again this year,” said B.P.C. Committee chair Jeff Galloway.
“We would love it if they put the rink back in,” said Jirina Ribbens, executive director of Ice Theater of New York, which hosted several free weekend performances at the B.P.C. rink last year. The company also offers complimentary skating lessons to city youth at other rinks in the city such as Rockefeller Center. While they were not able to give lessons at the B.P.C. rink last winter, they were hoping to give the kids of B.P.C. the chance this time around.
“It’s a great program for the public school children, and we were really looking forward to expanding it at the B.P.C. rink,” Ribbens said.
She was also hoping to lengthen the performances at the B.P.C. rink to a half hour each, from ten minutes, and organize others during the week for area workers on their lunch hours.
Ribbens recalled the freezing cold temperatures on the first day of its public concerts last year. “It was very windy, but the performers were not affected by that,” she said.
Tribeca resident Blake Haider, who lives one block away from the rink, would skate two-to-three times a week with his two children.
“The ice rink was just a godsend,” he said. “When I heard the rink operator had pulled out, it was kind of a shock.”
In mid-January, Haider also initiated a pond hockey group comprised of 15 or 20 B.P.C. and Tribeca residents.
“It was something we discovered kind of late,” he said, “and it turned out to be quite popular.”
Rinks at Chelsea Piers or Central Park are alternative options, but Haider and others hope to see one back in Battery Park City around Thanksgiving time. “It’s a great community experience and it’d be a shame if they don’t get someone to re-bid and build a new rink this winter,” said Haider.
