Harlem Ice Skaters Need Home Ice

Good morning. It’s Tuesday. Today we’ll find out about a figure skating group in Harlem that is shopping for a rink. We’ll also get details on the continuing drama around Mayor Eric Adams.

Figure Skating in Harlem, a nonprofit that teaches skills on and off the ice to young women of color, says it’s not enough to be the subject of a five-part documentary. It wants something it has never had — a rink of its own.

That would alleviate what it calls its “most significant pain point”: its skaters’ desire for more practice time on the ice to work on three-turns and crossovers. Not to mention Lutzes and axels.

In the 27 years since it was organized, the group has rented time slots for practices at rinks in Manhattan and Queens. At $200 to $500 an hour, or more than $100,000 a year, the bookings represent one of the largest items in its budget.

But more than money is involved. The rink closest to the group’s base, on West 125th Street, is in Riverbank State Park, on the Hudson River at West 145th Street. It is an outdoor rink. Rain or snow adds a dimension to practice that skaters do not face at an indoor rink. “Sometimes, we have warm weather,” said Sharon Cohen, the chief executive of Figure Skating in Harlem, “and the ice is canceled.”