Plan To Downsize Central Park's Lasker Rink Meets Opposition

CENTRAL PARK, NY — An ambitious $150 million plan to redevelop and improve the northern end of Central Park is being met with opposition over plans to downsize the Lasker Rink and Pool complex, according to reports and an online petition.

More than five thousands park users have signed a petition opposing the project on the grounds that it would cause in severe overcrowding at the sports complex and could result in some sports programs losing access to the facility. The petition — titled "Save the Lasker Pool and Ice Rinks in Central Park!" — admits that Lasker needs a renovation, but is worried about plans to downsize from two ice rinks to one and a smaller pool about three-quarters of the current facility's size.

"We urge the New York City Parks Department, the New York City Council, and Mayor DeBlasio to ensure that the proposed Lasker pool design is revised to equal or enlarge the current footprint so that it can accommodate more swimmers and maintain TWO ice rinks for our community," the petition, created by a group called the Preserve Lasker Coalition, reads.

The size of the Lasker facility will be shrunk to restore the original watercourse that connected the nearby Harlem Meer with an area of Central Park known as The Ravine. When Lasker was built in 1966 it added a concrete barrier between the Harlem Meer and the scenic Ravine area to its south. Each aspect of the Central Park Conservancy's $150 million project contributes to the overarching goal of restoring the area's natural ecology.

A new state-of-the-art recreation center for swimming and skating will completely replace the existing Lasker facility. The design of the new Lasker facility will implement green technologies such as a vegetated roof, passive climate control that minimizes the need for heating and cooling systems and the use of locally-sourced and recycled building materials. Unlike the current facility, the new building will be integrated with the park's natural surroundings instead of acting as a disruption.

The project is expected to break ground in 2021 and be complete by 2024, the conservancy announced in 2019.

A spokesperson for the Central Park Conservancy described Lasker as "beyond repair" and in need of a full redevelopment in a statement sent to Patch.

"A facility of the current scale cannot be constructed by today’s standards on this site. The planned pool and rink are as big as they can be within the site constraints, technical requirements, accessibility standards and project objectives," spokeswoman Stephanie Baez said in a statement.

Baez added that the redesigned facility will be the eighth largest public pool in New York City and "continue to support a robust swimming, skating and hockey program."