Midtown's Rockefeller Rink Opens Oct. 21, Tickets On Sale Now

MIDTOWN, NY — The cold and bleary days of autumn can only mean one thing: it's time to skate in Midtown.

Starting today, ice rink fanatics can purchase tickets to skate and slide at the Rockefeller Ice Rink starting on Oct. 21.

Each year, more than a quarter million people visit the iconic skating rink, according to Rockefeller Center.

Both the rink and the Christmas tree have their roots in Depression-era traditions.

The Rink, according to Rockefeller Center, was inspired by a marketing ploy concocted by an intrepid ice skate salesman in 1936 who wanted to show how well his products worked, and would skate about in a frozen puddle near the Rockefeller Center fountain.

Only three years old, Rockefeller Center was struggling to attract crowds to its sunken plaza. According to the legend, reads the Rockefeller Center history, John D. Rockefeller Jr. was inspired by the salesman's antics to build a permanent rink

That Christmas Day, the rink officially opened in the sunken plaza as a "skating pond" and was originally a temporary exhibit.

In 1939, it became a permanent fixture in Midtown and an icon of the winter season, attracting huge crowds eager to skate or to just sip a hot drink while enjoying the decorations and festive spirit.

Tickets cost between $11-$73 to take a spin on the ice — and tickets are required since the rink can only hold 150 people at a time.

So leave the crowds and jump on the ice this winter (or late October)!

Tickets and more information can be found here.