About This Site
This guide is a compendium of information about inline skating in and near New York City. It was first created Oct. 29, 1994 and for a few months called the "New York City Rollerskating FAQ". At thirty years old, NYCSK8 is by far the oldest local or regional inline skate guide on the web (the only older local skate guides were the original Philadelphia and Houston skate FAQs, and neither of those seems to have survived past 1995) and one of the oldest inline skating websites of any kind.
Depending on how hardcore you are, you can skate outdoors year-round in the city, taking a break only when there's been a snowstorm that hasn't melted yet. The prime season is April though October, but even in the depths of January and February, there will be some very skateable weekends with temperatures in the 40s.
When the temperature gets down to about 30°F, light layers covered by windproof "barrier" jacket seem to do the trick. I've found that a T-shirt, sweater or ski vest, lightly padded wind breaker, "Drylete" tights, light gloves (under wrist guards), bandanna and a helmet suffice when added to the usual skates, socks, and armor; if the sun is out and it's not windy, you can even ditch the windbreaker. However, as the temperature falls below 30°F, muscles and skate wheels become less responsive so that artistic and trick skating become more difficult.
On the other hand, when the temperature is over 80°F, you might encounter skaters wearing not much, some pushing the limits on how much skin they can safely and legally expose. We'll leave that decision to you, but remember to stay hydrated. Few things are worse than a nice day of skating wiped out by a case of heatstroke.
NYCSK8 tends to be biased toward areas where we do most of our skating, and you might rightfully complain that it should be called the "Manhattan Inline Skating Guide". To correct for that, we're always looking to fill in the all too noticeable gaps, so if you can provide info on the other boroughs or about nearby places like Westchester, Jersey or Long Island, We'd be happy to hear from you and to include your comments. Just send e-mail to nyc@skatecity.com.
Note: Since late 2015, this guide has erratically been applying some much needed updates and even added new content. Further note: Well it's 2024 now, and we updated some, but could still do a heckuva lot more. Nevertheless, your contributions would be appreciated.
Disclaimer
Inline skating is a potentially dangerous sport, and we urge you to wear appropriate armor when skating. That means a helmet, wrist guards, and probably knee pads. And don't forget reflective clothing and/or blinky lights at night, especially if you want to remain street legal. The info provided in the New York City Inline Skating Guide is not meant to encourage you to engage in any unsafe or unlawful activity, and neither we nor any contributor nor any sponsor of this guide is in any way responsible for any act in which you engage that results in death, injury, legal penalty and/or simple embarassment.
In other words, have fun but keep your head screwed on!
Copyright:
NYCSK8: The New York City Inline Skating Guide is copyright © 1994-2024 by Robert B. Schmunk. Reproduction or redistribution of the guide or any part thereof for purposes other than your personal use is prohibited except upon receipt of explicit permission.