1970s-style skate park rolls into Central Park for summer
Lace up your skates and get ready to roll back the years.
Central Park’s Wollman Rink is transforming into a ’70s-themed roller disco destination, called the DiscOasis, from June 16 through Oct. 1 — with Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Niles Rodgers serving as the chief curator and “Groovemaster.”
“Roller-skating is back,” the co-founder of Chic, who’s behind some of the biggest hits in the past half century, declared Tuesday.
“This feels so much more like me because it’s New York, it’s Central Park where I’ve seen, like, some of the biggest events in my life,” he told the Daily News.
The DiscOasis is touted as an immersive musical experience offering nightly skate times and programs featuring theatrical performances and an array of live DJs, artists and special guests. There’ll also be open skate sessions on the 18,000 square-foot rink during daytime hours.
The venue’s vice president and general manager, Stefanie Tomlin, said the space will be “a vibrant, diverse and inclusive” and “bolster NYC’s economic recovery.” General admission will range from $17 to $23. The reimagined rink is a new version of an event at Los Angeles’ South Coast Botanic Gardens last year that was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “the party of the summer.”
“I think that New York is gonna blow that away, which is crazy because that was my own thing,” Rodgers told The News after Tuesday’s unveiling, which Mayor Adams also attended.
Rodgers, a lifelong New Yorker, has sculpted timeless dance hits for stars like David Bowie, Diana Ross, Madonna, Daft Punk and Lady Gaga through a five-decade career. He said his agents at Creative Artists Agency eagerly recruited him for the reinvented entertainment business model.
“They called me to be the curator of the choreographed section, and then I decided, well, maybe I could play a bigger role,” he said. “They decided that they liked me playing a bigger role so I became part of the designer of the whole music curation process. And that was spectacular.”
The Central Park skating venue is the second roller rink recently opened in the city. Fashion model Liberty Ross and her husband, Jimmy Iovine, launched Flippers Roller Boogie Palace in Rockefeller Center last month — the first roller skate rink there since 1940.
DiscOasis creator and producer Thao Nguyen of the L.A.-based event firm Constellation Immersive told The News that the return of roller-skating rinks in the heart of the city isn’t just another trend.
“I think it’s a movement ... and it’s here to stay,” she said.
She added that Rodgers was always at the top of the list for potential collaborators.
“He’s, like, he’s the OG,” she said. “I mean, he’s a living legend, and so we’re incredibly honored and lucky that he’s a creative partner in this. And you know, he’s a hardcore roller skater.”