NEW YORK — The opening of Wollman Rink still went on as planned Saturday despite the unseasonably warm temperatures in the city.
In this weather, you may want to lay down on the ice a little longer.
“How did it feel having to put on the shorts before you left the house today, then you gotta go on the ice?” CBS New York’s Kristie Keleshian asked one skater.
“I was a little hesitant,” he said.
“I like it when it’s warm. I just wasn’t prepared for it,” Washington Heights resident Eli Eyobserrette said.
Move over sweater weather, tank tops and shorts were back in season for Wollman Rink’s opening day.
“Even though it doesn’t feel like winter right now, we know we’re gonna be loving this ice skating,” New York City Parks and Recreation Commissioner Sue Donoghue said.
Igloos would’ve been green houses Saturday, and ice sculptures were just barely holding on as the city saw late-June or early-September-like temperatures, breaking records in several parts of the city.
“I didn’t know what the ice was gonna be like, but it was really stable. I was a little nervous about that,” Manhattan resident David Gray said.
You may think the heat would cause the ice to melt, but the rink shares that thanks to a cooling system underneath, that isn’t a problem here.
“It is perfect, perfect,” said Tomas Smolarek, from Poland.
The grass and sand were also packed with October sunbathers at Gansevoort Peninsula, Manhattan’s first public beach.
“You’re wearing a bikini in October. What do you make of it?” Keleshian asked one woman.
“Honestly, it’s pretty amazing,” she said.
- Read more: First Alert Weather: Unseasonable October heat breaks records across New York City
Most New Yorkers we spoke with didn’t complain; if anything, some felt it was much needed. But others did express concern; we are over a month into fall, after all.
“I am questioning it. I think it’s going little too long,” Eyobserrette said.
“I think it was too hot,” Upper West Sider Giancarlo Garcia said.
With November around the corner, this really might be the last warm weekend we’ll see in a while. Tanika Peart hasn’t thought that far though.
“It’s coming, I’m sure, but I’m just gonna enjoy today while I can,” she said.
Living in the – warmer than usual – moment.
- In:
- New York City