Figure Skating in Harlem @ Riverbank State Park

[Isk8NYC]

Nice article from the NY Daily News fighting against race, gender and figure skating discrimination, or in this case, synchro discrimination.

Hockey usually devours all ice time, but in this case, it's Prep School Hockey. 

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/02/18/2011-02-18_bitter_faceoff_in_harlem_residents_rich_prep_teams_hog_nabe_skate_rink.html

Parents of kids in the widely acclaimed Figure Skating in Harlem program say all sense of balance has been discarded - and the girls of Harlem are being sacrificed.

"Eighty percent of the rink time is allotted to boys hockey, even though not a lot of children from Harlem play hockey," parent Denise Tutt said. "It's a grave injustice to the girls of this community, and we just want the time spread more evenly."

Sharon Cohen has run the figure skating program for 14 years. She has a huge waiting list but can't accept more than a 130 girls each year because the park won't allot her more than 4-1/2 hours of ice time a week.

Yet hockey teams from three elite schools outside the neighborhood - St. David's on the upper East Side, Columbia Prep on the upper West Side, and Fieldston in Riverdale - all have regular slots at Riverbank, taking up 8-1/2 hours of the highly coveted weekday afternoon period at the rink.

In addition, the park has been expanding its hockey program, with a half-dozen teams consuming 15 more hours during the week and on weekend mornings.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/02/18/2011-02-18_bitter_faceoff_in_harlem_residents_rich_prep_teams_hog_nabe_skate_rink.html#ixzz1EPdCF7oL

Figure Skating in Harlem is a good program that reaches out to the kids (mostly girls) in many ways.
http://figureskatinginharlem.org/