The New York Times - USA (2020-11-08)

6 MB THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2020

Since 1936, gliding on the ice at Rockefeller
Center in the presence of golden Prome-
theus and a 75-foot Christmas tree, or
watching others do so, has been a New York
holiday tradition.
The good news is that it will be possible
again this year. The famed ice skating rink
in Midtown Manhattan will open on Nov. 21,
right before Thanksgiving, with tickets go-
ing on sale on Thursday, and the number of
skaters limited to help with social distanc-
ing.
But you had better visit fast.
The bad news: The skating season will in-
clude the major winter holidays, but that’s
about it. The rink will close on Jan. 17, sev-
eral months early, right when New Yorkers,
many of them enduring the pandemic in
their apartments, will need outdoor recrea-
tion the most.
The early shutdown is because of a long-
planned renovation of the sunken plaza and
the underground shopping concourse sur-
rounding it. Tishman Speyer, the owner of
Rockefeller Center, has plans to “democra-
tize” the area, said Rob Speyer, president
and chief executive. Some preservationists,
however, do not support all the changes
coming to the famous Art Deco complex,
calling them commercially motivated.
And the shortened season would appear
to fly in the face of calls by public health ex-
perts for New Yorkers to spend time in the
open air. “If I’m going to an outdoor skating
rink, the risk is lower than most of the in-
door activities, like going to the gym,” said
Dr. Waleed Javaid, the director of infection
prevention and control at Mount Sinai
Downtown Network.
But Mr. Speyer says the short-term pain
will result in long-term gain in the plaza
area. “We want to make it completely acces-
sible to people,” he said.
Until recently, concourse restaurants oc-
cupied the north and south sides of the rink,
providing front-row seats to those who
could pay for the privilege. Everyone else in
the underground area had less chance of
glimpsing the action on the ice.
Those restaurants are now gone. The
area immediately around the plaza will be
made fully publicly accessible. The con-
course will be spruced up. “Everyone will
have that opportunity to press their noses
against the glass,” Mr. Speyer said.
The current windows in the granite walls
surrounding the plaza will be replaced by
large, pivoting storefront-style windows,

which will bring more natural light into the

concourse, according to Gabellini Sheppard

Associates, the architects of the plan.

In warm weather, the storefront windows

will open, and people will be able to go back

and forth easily between the concourse and

the plaza, enjoying the sort of indoor/out-

door experience that had grown popular be-

fore the pandemic and that is, of course,

even more important now because of the

health crisis.

The massive granite “credo” plaque to

John D. Rockefeller Jr., added at the top of

the staircase to the plaza in 1962, will be re-

located. The staircase itself will be tweaked

in a manner intended to encourage people

to flow down to the sunken plaza.

The alterations to the plaza and con-

course are part of a raft of changes planned

for Rockefeller Center’s interconnected

central public areas.

Rockefeller Center is a city landmark, so

the changes had to be approved by the

Landmarks Preservation Commission. And

because the complex is a beloved architec-

tural masterwork, preservationists scruti-

nized the proposal.

Some objected to the plan to redo the ter-

races overlooking the sunken plaza, with

their fountains set in niches. The historic

design will be demolished; in its place will

be a new landscape vaguely reminiscent of

the original and featuring long granite

benches. The elevators to the concourse

will be replaced by modernist ones, and

new staircases will be added.

“It is simply a commercial gesture to get

people down some new steps to the con-

course,” said Carol Krinksy, a professor of

art history at New York University and au-

thor of a book on Rockefeller Center. “I don’t

want them to do that to my center.”

The complex, which normally is home to

some 18,000 office workers and attracts

countless tourists, has, like the rest of Mid-

town, not been its usual bustling self since

the coronavirus outbreak. Business has fall-

en off in the retail shops. And although the

number of workers on the campus has

inched up since the summer, the office

buildings are still only about 13 percent oc-

cupied, said Iva Benson, a Tishman spokes-

woman.

But Rockefeller Center seems to be in

good shape financially; nearly all office ten-

ants are paying their rent, Mr. Speyer said.

Some retail tenants have renewed or ex-

panded their leases, he continued, while

other businesses have signed new leases.

During warmer weather this year, Tish-

man set up tables in the plaza, and there

were pop-up restaurants. Because of the

outdoor dining, Tishman pushed back the

opening of the rink, which usually happens

on Columbus Day weekend. So the skating

season is being squeezed on both ends.

When Rockefeller Center opened in 1933,

the rink wasn’t part of the plan. It was added

to enliven the plaza in winter. And it worked.

“Think of all the wonderful public spaces

we have,” said Kent Barwick, the former

president of the Municipal Art Society, a

preservation group, who was chairman of

the Landmarks Preservation Commission

when it initiated the designation of Rocke-

feller Center. “Not many are oriented to the

cold weather months.”

That may make the rink’s abbreviated

season all the more crushing.

But Sibyl McCormac Groff, known for her

Christmastime tours around Rockefeller

Center, said she did not fault its owners.

“Sometimes we have to do these things to

move forward,” she said.

Ms. Groff even suggested that the pan-

demic might be a good time to get the work

done, since the number of visitors is down.

“And hopefully the tourists will come

back.”

Be Sure to Go Quick, Before It Melts

The Rockefeller Center rink is

opening soon, but it will close

early this skating season.

By JANE MARGOLIES

DAVE SANDERS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

TISHMAN SPEYER

Above, Rockefeller Center’s ice

skating rink will open Nov. 21

and run until just Jan. 17. The

early shutdown is because of a

long-planned renovation. At left

is a rendering of some of the

planned changes.

A renovation of the

sunken plaza and the

underground shopping

concourse surrounding

it is going ahead.

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