6. Explore the History of NYC Ice Skating at the Museum of the City of New York
Major & Knapp Engraving, Manufacturing & Lithographic Co., printer Empire City Skating Rink, ca. 1868. Color lithograph. Museum of the City of New York, The J. Clarence Davies Collection, 2 9.100.1544
New York on Ice: Skating in the City, a new exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York opened on December 20. Digging into New York’s ice skating past, it traces the evolution of ice skating from a 19th-century craze to the elaborate spectacle, commercialized leisure activity and competitive sport it is today.
Curated by Frances Rosenfeld, the exhibit moves in four sections: “New Yorkers Take To the Ice,” “City of Rinks,” “Skating for the People,” and “New York Ice Champions.” The first three sections reveal just how many rinks and ponds were available to people — far more than we have today. It will be open for viewing through April 15, 2018, and be sure to check out the programs planned in conjunction with the show. Should you want to go ice skating after walking through this exhibition as badly as we did, then Lasker Rink is just across the way from the Museum in Central Park.