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Tomorrow (Saturday, December 15), the Rooftop at Pier 17 Winterland, opens for the season, featuring a pop-up winter village and market, along with New York’s first outdoor rooftop ice skating rink. The facility, which is nearly the size of the iconic ice rink in Rockefeller Center, is slated to offer not only traditional ice-skating lessons but also opportunities to learn curling and broom ball (a hybrid of hockey and soccer).
The Pier 17 Winterland also includes R17, a swank cocktail bar that includes fireplaces and candlelight. Nearby, a warming hut is outfitted with Adirondack chairs and blankets. The space was designed by architect David Rockwell, whose work will be familiar to Lower Manhattan residents who have dined at Nobu — both the original 1990s location in Tribeca, and the current incarnation at 195 Broadway. If the dramatic setting seems reminiscent of a stage set, this is not a coincidence: Mr. Rockwell is also legendary designed of sets for Broadway musicals, including Hairspray, The Rocky Horror Show, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Legally Blonde, Catch Me If You Can,and Kinky Boots.
“We conceived the Rooftop at Pier 17 as a completely new, elevated frame for the Seaport and the waterfront,” says Mr. Rockwell. “It’s rare as a New Yorker or visitor to the City to experience the skyline at eye level. The rooftop’s immersive outdoor and indoor environments are places to come together and celebrate away from the bustle of the street, but also to be a part of the City’s urbanism on a different plane and at a different scale.”
Although the rink is seasonal, the R17 bar is slated to become a permanent fixture on the roof of the pier. Mr. Rockwell’s design allows for the facility to be enclosed by removable walls, and then converted into a venue during warm weather.
As with another popular New York ice rink, at Bryant Park, the one at Pier 17 will also feature a holiday market.
Seasonal memberships and packages to the ice rink are now available for purchase online (at www.pier17ny.com), and Lower Manhattan residents are eligible for skating discounts.
The entrance to Pier 17 is located at 89 South Street (near the intersection with Fulton Street). For more information, browse: www.pier17ny.com.
Matthew Fenton
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