Rinks around NYC / cost of freestyle sessions!

[spiralina]

I'll be in NYC for two weeks at the end of July on business, likely staying downtown, possibly midtown. Naturally I'll be bringing my skates, but upon looking up the Sky Rink (which looked like the most convenient) and seeing the cost of the freestyle sessions, my face was like this:  we normally pay £5-6 a session, for up to 3.5 hours... I'm also amazed that there isn't any evening public or freestyle skating.

So given I'm going to be busy every weekday from 9am to 5pm, and for the sake of planning my skating, do any of you lovely forumites know the following?
- Are there any other rinks nearby which are easily accessible with public transport (at 6am in the morning)? I've seen the World Ice Arena and City Ice but no idea if they are easily to get to from downtown Manhattan. Or should I just stick with the Sky Rink?
- What is the standard like on freestyle sessions (at any of the nearby rinks)? I get the feeling that US freestyle sessions are far less laid back than patch in the UK. I'm working on single jumps but have fairly strong field moves.
- How busy are weekend publics? Are jumps/spins etc allowed?

Thanks in advance

[Sk8Dreams]

City Ice is accessible by public transportation, but I don't have any idea how long the trip would be:

http://arenamaps.com/view_arena.php?position=0&arena_name=&city=queens&state=NY&zip=&country=&id=5073&sport=0

In the past, Sky Rink has had free public skating on Sundays in August.  The first half hour is reputed to be fairly empty.

[FigureSpins]

You could take an express bus (or ferry?) over the river to Hackensack, NJ and skate at the Ice House.
They have early-morning and late-afternoon/evening freestyle sessions.
http://www.icehousenj.com/dailyschedule.aspx

Some rinks have Moves sessions, if you wanted to practice that, but you can't do freestyle on them.

If you're doing single jumps, stick with the lower-level freestyle sessions. 
(The schedule would say Low/No Test/Pre-Preliminary/Preliminary.  If it doesn't say, it's open to anyone.)

[spiralina]

You could take an express bus (or ferry?) over the river to Hackensack, NJ and skate at the Ice House.
They have early-morning and late-afternoon/evening freestyle sessions.
http://www.icehousenj.com/dailyschedule.aspx

Some rinks have Moves sessions, if you wanted to practice that, but you can't do freestyle on them.

If you're doing single jumps, stick with the lower-level freestyle sessions. 
(The schedule would say Low/No Test/Pre-Preliminary/Preliminary.  If it doesn't say, it's open to anyone.)

I just took a look at their website and the thought of skating there scares me, lol  But wow, to have even two pads here, let alone four...

Sk8Dreams, thanks! I have no idea about public transport outside Manhattan but just realised that Google maps now has a journey planner. City Ice would probably be the closest, timewise, to where I think I'll be staying.

[Skittl1321]

I skated at Ice House once, and other than it being super cold, it was a nice rink.  The people at the front desk were nice and helpful.  It was very crowded in the building, but there were only like 5 people on the pad of ice that was low freestyle.  The public session on the next rink over was insane, and then there was a higher freestyle on another sheet of ice that was somewhat crowded.

Nice place to skate though.  I'm glad I don't have to pay that much per session, but considering I live in a low cost of living area, it makes sense it would be a few dollars more out there.

[davincisop]

I'm not sure what the cost of freestyle is, but when I went to the public session in early December at the Sky Rink at Chelsea Pier it was really empty. The session took place on the studio rink so it was a bit smaller than I was used to, but there were only about 7 people on the ice: Mom, sister, me, and two people in lessons. There may have been a few more, but I could be wrong. But it was empty enough that I could do a lot of elements (at least the ones mom would let me do since me skating scares her due to my severe klutzyness lol, AND I didn't want to hurt myself during vacation). I was there for about 40 minutes before a LTS group got on the ice and then a large camp came in.

Even if you go there and just skate in circles, it's worth it for the view. It's the first time I've skated in a rink with windows.

[flyingcupcake]

Where downtown are you staying?  During the summer, City Ice is the cheapest option.  I think it's $5 for the weekday public session. It's been empty every time I've been there during the week. It's in Long Island City in Queens -- you can get there on the 7 train, and then you walk a bit past the train and it's in a building that looks like a warehouse.  Weekend publics can get crowded sometimes, and they won't allow skating backwards when it's crowded, but you can practice jumps/spins in the middle. When we went to a public on Saturday night last month, it was pretty empty.  I think their freestyles are about $18 or something, but I've never gone to those at City Ice because I find the area a lil sketchy to walk to at 5am. I think City Ice does have evening freestyles though -- I find the area ok to walk in during the evening.

World Ice is at the end of the 7 train in Flushing in Queens, and you walk about a mile through Flushing Meadows park to get there once you get off the train. It would take you awhile, but the prices are same as City Ice since they're sister rinks.

Freestyles at Sky Rink are pricey, but it'll probably be closest to you. I take the L train to 8th avenue then walk to 23rd and 10th. I've done this walk at 4:30am, no problem.  If you're coming from midtown, the E train to 23rd will take you closest. I think it's $25 to $32 for a freestyle session, but I buy them in bulk so I forget. Summer ice means mixed ice on the freestyle though, so it's sometimes high traffic but everyone skates well together from the (supervised) tots to the skaters doing doubles and triples. There's fewer kids on summer ice since they're usually in skating camp.

So basically, if you're staying in midtown, you can take a taxi to Sky Rink in like 10 minutes, or even get there by subway (E) in 15-20 minutes. You'll be able to get back to midtown for work easier too than City Ice. City Ice is in a different borough, but will probably take you 30 minutes on the subway including the walk. It's significantly cheaper, but if you need to be back in the city for work you'll be riding the subway 7 train into Manhattan during rush hour -- not fun. World Ice and Hackensack are just too damn far to be worth it unless you're purposefully going to that rink to check it out. Whichever rink you decide, print out the Google Map directions and you should be fine.

Ok, hope this helps! 

[spiralina]

Well, it's official. There was a human resources blip so I found out about my promotion via a mass email (!) - about as personal as finding out that you're in a relationshop via Facebook - but NYC for two weeks at the end of July. I'll probably take a couple of days off either side too. Woo!

I skated at Ice House once, and other than it being super cold, it was a nice rink.  The people at the front desk were nice and helpful.  It was very crowded in the building, but there were only like 5 people on the pad of ice that was low freestyle.  The public session on the next rink over was insane, and then there was a higher freestyle on another sheet of ice that was somewhat crowded.

I took a look at their coaches for the summer programme. Wow  I may trundle along for a public session on my off days. I really need to see what 4 pads looks like... my rink is known as being super-cold and I regularly skate in a vest top. For some reason I don't feel the cold - handy really

Even if you go there and just skate in circles, it's worth it for the view. It's the first time I've skated in a rink with windows.

Thanks! Neither have I, I didn't realise SkyRink had windows! Studio rink sounds fine - my home rink here is half size anyway.

Where downtown are you staying?  During the summer, City Ice is the cheapest option.  I think it's $5 for the weekday public session. It's been empty every time I've been there during the week. It's in Long Island City in Queens -- you can get there on the 7 train, and then you walk a bit past the train and it's in a building that looks like a warehouse.  Weekend publics can get crowded sometimes, and they won't allow skating backwards when it's crowded, but you can practice jumps/spins in the middle. When we went to a public on Saturday night last month, it was pretty empty.  I think their freestyles are about $18 or something, but I've never gone to those at City Ice because I find the area a lil sketchy to walk to at 5am. I think City Ice does have evening freestyles though -- I find the area ok to walk in during the evening.

World Ice is at the end of the 7 train in Flushing in Queens, and you walk about a mile through Flushing Meadows park to get there once you get off the train. It would take you awhile, but the prices are same as City Ice since they're sister rinks.

Freestyles at Sky Rink are pricey, but it'll probably be closest to you. I take the L train to 8th avenue then walk to 23rd and 10th. I've done this walk at 4:30am, no problem.  If you're coming from midtown, the E train to 23rd will take you closest. I think it's $25 to $32 for a freestyle session, but I buy them in bulk so I forget. Summer ice means mixed ice on the freestyle though, so it's sometimes high traffic but everyone skates well together from the (supervised) tots to the skaters doing doubles and triples. There's fewer kids on summer ice since they're usually in skating camp.

So basically, if you're staying in midtown, you can take a taxi to Sky Rink in like 10 minutes, or even get there by subway (E) in 15-20 minutes. You'll be able to get back to midtown for work easier too than City Ice. City Ice is in a different borough, but will probably take you 30 minutes on the subway including the walk. It's significantly cheaper, but if you need to be back in the city for work you'll be riding the subway 7 train into Manhattan during rush hour -- not fun. World Ice and Hackensack are just too damn far to be worth it unless you're purposefully going to that rink to check it out. Whichever rink you decide, print out the Google Map directions and you should be fine.

Ok, hope this helps! 

This is amazing - thank you!! That was my concern about City Ice - it seems to be in the middle of nowhere. At least it's summer and evenings are light. I didn't realise World Ice was in Flushing - I have a distant memory of wanting to do dim sum there last time I was in NYC and not getting around to it - might try and persuade some of my colleagues to come