The LeFrak Center ice-skating rink doesn’t open until October 31 — but it’s never too early for the facility to leak ammonia all over Prospect Park, which is what happened on Wednesday night. (Ammonia is used to help keep the ice cool.) People inside the park and on nearby streets began complaining of a suffocating, burning odor at around 8 p.m., prompting a visit from the FDNY and other emergency workers. DNAinfo reports that much of the park was shut down during the investigation of the stench, and nine firefighters and one civilian wound up in the hospital for “minor inhalation problems.” The situation was “brought under control by 10 p.m,” according to what an FDNY spokesperson told the New York Daily News, but that probably won’t stop those dreading winter from seeing the incident as a bad omen.
