Photo of the Day: Skating Rink, Bryant Park, NYC

I don’t recall ever seeing Bryant Park in winter. But today, I had a bit of time to kill before a mid-afternoon Broadway matinee, so I decided to see what was going on in the space behind the New York Public Library’s central building. 

I wasn’t completely surprised to see throngs out in the space—after all, the sun had come out and temperatures had climbed again after the swift snowstorm of the night before—but I hadn't expected an ice-skating rink in the space. “The Rink” is part of Winter Village, sponsored by Bank of America. 

Perhaps because I work in the area, whenever I associate the word “rink” with anything in New York, it is with the one at Rockefeller Center. That one lasts through April 15, but it does charge. 

On the other hand, The Rink at Bryant Park, according to the park’s Web site, is “New York City’s only free admission ice skating rink.” It is open through early March. As you see from this photo I took, many took advantage of the middle of this long holiday weekend to enjoy themselves on the ice. It was nice to see this oasis in the midst of the skyscraper canyon better known as Midtown Manhattan.