OT: drop-in/pickup in NYC area?

[mlaws9]

I'm about to move to NYC (Upper East Side, to be specific) and am having trouble finding decent info on rink locations and times for drop-in/pickup.

I'm most interested in places that offer morning (pre-work; like 6 a.m.) drop-in times, if there are any. But any info anyone has on decent (not super-crowded, not super-expensive) pickup hockey in the greater NYC region would be great.

One last thing: I'm about to be (gulp) car-less, for the first time in my adult life. How do you other NYC hockey enthusiasts manage? Public transit (with all our gear??)? Zipcar?

Thanks!

P.S. If any of you run or are invited to "organized drop-in" sessions, I swear I'm a good player. I mean, not amazing, but I always snagged invites to such sessions in the D.C. area. I pass a lot/am unselfish. I'm not a guy you'll regret inviting ...

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[FourRings]

I'm about to move to NYC (Upper East Side, to be specific) and am having trouble finding decent info on rink locations and times for drop-in/pickup.

I'm most interested in places that offer morning (pre-work; like 6 a.m.) drop-in times, if there are any. But any info anyone has on decent (not super-crowded, not super-expensive) pickup hockey in the greater NYC region would be great.

One last thing: I'm about to be (gulp) car-less, for the first time in my adult life. How do you other NYC hockey enthusiasts manage? Public transit (with all our gear??)? Zipcar?

Thanks!

P.S. If any of you run or are invited to "organized drop-in" sessions, I swear I'm a good player. I mean, not amazing, but I always snagged invites to such sessions in the D.C. area. I pass a lot/am unselfish. I'm not a guy you'll regret inviting ...

Your main mode of transport, especially from your neighborhood, is going to be the Subway.
I personally don't play in these leagues, but I heard there is a rink or two down by the piers (Chelsea) and that there are a few adult leagues over there

 

[Original Rob]

I used to play at Chelsea Piers - there are two rinks there. You should check their website, I'm sure they list rat hockey times. I was living in LES at the time, took the subway to the bus on 14th street across town. It's not easy lugging your gear on public transport but you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[islesfan186]

The rinks I know of that have pick-up hockey that are in the NYC area (and I'm including Queens) are:
- City Ice Pavilion in Long Island City
- Aviator Sports Center in Brooklyn
- World Ice Arena in Flushing
- the Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers.

I only go to City Ice since I live in New Hyde Park, which is the border of Nassau and Queens. Never been to the others but have talked to guys who have been. There are a good number of guys who take the trains/subways to opens, but I imagine lugging around a hockey bag on a train is no fun :-/

 

[Volek25]

Hey man, I live UES as well. I play at Chelsea Piers on Tuesday nights. Luckily my brother has a car and lives a block away so we drive, but not everyone has that luxury. Since Chelsea Piers is a ways away from UES, I used to take cabs which gets expensive, like almost 30 bucks each way. 2 guys on my team lived same area so we just shared and split it but either way, cab there is expensive. Did that just cause I hate taking bus or subway with all my stuff and sticks. You can take the subway (6 train) or a bus down to 23rd street stop and there's a crosstown bus on 23rd that takes you all the way west, drops you about a block from the rink. Always a good way to get there that's inexpensive. They have 2 rinks there and a ton of locker rooms with pretty nice showers (always a plus). Ice is actually pretty good, except obviously in the summer months, but I think they just upgraded their cooling system to make ice better.

The Pavillion in Queens I hear isn't too bad, depending on where you are on UES, just go right over 59th St bridge and the rink is pretty much right there. Cab there might be best bet or subway from 59th st (N,Q, R) to Queensboro Plaza. The Aviator in BK is a really nice big sports facility, but is pretty far and not the easiest or accessible through public transportation and could be a pretty good hike to get to after or before work from UES. All these places I'm sure have open skates at some points in the day, you can just call up or go online and find out when, cost, etc....

There's also a really great roller hockey league (Manhattan Roller Hockey League, MRHL) that I've been playing in since 2010. It's one of the best run roller leagues I've played in (I grew up in LI, so I've played at every roller league available out there), all the guys playing are great. There are 4 Tiers for skill level. The rink is outdoors on corner of 96th and 1st. We just installed new surface about a year ago or so, which is the outdoor equivalent to an indoor surface. Season just started but there's a fall and spring season and just started a summer league this past summer as well. That's roller hockey tho so not sure if you're down for that. If so, PM me and I can certainly put you in touch with the guys that run the league.

Hope that helps, again, PM if you have specific questions, I can do my best to help out.