Feature

Ice-Skating Rinks

It is skating season, the thermometer notwithstanding. Avoid the hordes dodging the Zamboni at Wollman Rink, Rockefeller Center, and Chelsea Piers while you figure-eight your way around these lesser-known frozen assets.

1. Lasker Rink
Lasker Rink is the relatively low-profile uptown alternative to Central Park's Wollman Rink -- and fewer crowds mean fewer onlookers when you fall on your butt. (East Drive and 107th Street, Central Park; 212-534-7639; $4 adults, $2 children, $3.79 skate rental.)

2. Abe Stark Rink
Open only on the weekend, this rink nestled up against the boardwalk is a reason to go to Coney Island before the Cyclones suit up. (Surf Avenue and West 19th Street, Brooklyn; 718-946-3135; $7, $4 skate rental.)

3. Kate Wollman Rink
No -- this is the other Wollman Rink, located in Brooklyn's lovely Prospect Park. Perfect for neophytes, this rink provides weekly group lessons from Thursday to Sunday. (East Drive and Lincoln Road, Prospect Park; 718-287-6431; $4, $2 children and seniors, $4 skate rental.)

4. Riverbank State Park
Ice kings and queens who don't mind practicing their craft against the West Side Highway's rumble should check out this uptown spot along the Hudson River, where the canopied hockey rink is open for skating Friday through Sunday. (Riverside Drive at 145th Street; 212-694-3642; $4, $2 children, $3 skate rental.)

5. World's Fair Ice-Skating Rink
The sense of nostalgia attached to gliding about on the ice is only encouraged by this Queens location, built for the legendary 1939 fair in Flushing Meadows. (Flushing Meadows-Corona Park; 718-271-1996; $7.50, $4.50 skate rental.)