Skating at Rockefeller Center

It is a truth universally acknowledged that New Yorkers don't skate at Rockefeller Center, unless they have out-of-town visitors who can't be talked out of it.


But we are lucky enough to have an Olympic-caliber skater in our midst at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, who figured that young folk who were new to New York might actually enjoy the holiday lights and crowds before they get jaded and cynical. So she organized a trip pre-Tree (to minimize the crowds) and found a lovely group discount for us. We were, at 13 strong, by far the largest group on the ice.

And quite possibly we were also having the most fun, no matter how long we'd been here in the city:

As you may see, the Arent Fox law firm (an old adversary of mine) was having some kind of event on the sidelines, with a good view of the proceedings. I'm pretty sure some of them were, in spirit at least, standing with their noses pressed against the glass. Moping around inside with a bunch of lawyers? Been there, done that. Much better to be outside, where we could scarcely contain our grins:
No touristy pose was too hokey for us -- we couldn't resist the Rock Center Cafe backdrop:
Luckily, our crowd largely managed to weave in and out among our fellow skaters without incident, even when going arm in arm:

That gilded statue in the background is Prometheus. His right hand, not visible in this photo, clutches a somewhat anthropomorphic ball of fire stolen from the gods. Fire myths and motifs would seem to be an odd choice for a skating rink, but apparently the sculpture dates from 1934, when Rockefeller envisioned the location as a fountain-filled entrance to a shopping arcade (it was converted in 1936 to a skating rink flanked by restaurants, a much more successful formula):

We did not form a human pyramid (an enterprise that would likely be frowned upon by the Skating Authorities), but this is the next best thing:
Angela and Shay made a few tours around the rink before a spill brought them to the sidelines... But luckily Shay bounced right back for a victory lap.

Claire dazzles the rink with her smile, whether caught on candid camera...

... or in a posed shot:
Kathryn's megawatt smile:
Rick and Court help propel first-timer Wasita around the rink:


A dangerous pas de deux (the ice has become deeply grooved by this time):



I wish I could take credit for this next one, but it was not created using advanced shutter speed techniques. My camera creates such images from time to time purely by accident because the shutter isn't what it should be.

Erin and Kent, fresh from an X-Games dodgeball victory, watch the rest of us skating ourselves dizzy:

Soon afterward, the Skating Authorities closed the rink for the zamboni to go around and smooth out the ice. It took quite a while to clean it up, but once they were done, our heroine got a chance to take a few spins solo before the rest of the crowd re-entered the rink:



It was a fun time. And even the kitschy window displays nearby were kind of cool - this one has snowflakes cut out of MTA subway maps and coordinates well with the bike rack in front of it.