At first glance, it looks as if Prince himself is tying up his glitter roller skates on a bench in Industry City.
Upon closer examination, it’s Dyker Heights resident Jasmine Padro. She sure looks the part, in metallic purple leggings, a white ruffled shirt and the pop star’s iconic symbol shining on her back.
“The top I made myself — I painted it,” Padro, 40, tells The Post. It’s not the first time she’s dressed this way. This is one of her go-to roller-disco costumes.
Thanks to Brooklyn’s new indoor Dreamland Roller Rink, Padro will get to wear it a lot. From Thursdays to Sundays, the Sunset Park space fills with skaters of all ages. Friday nights, however, the rink becomes a 21-and-up roller disco. Each night is focused into themes, like Prince, ’90s hip-hop, “Saturday Night Fever” and Jay-Z vs. Beyoncé. And fans come dressed to the nines.
Brooklyn fashion designer Lola Star, who’s hosted roller discos all around the borough, opened the rink in early December. Star — real name, Diana Carlin — grew up skating in Detroit, and opened her first roller rink in 2008 in Coney Island. After that closed in 2010, Star’s since hosted outdoor skating parties in Prospect Park. Industry City’s warehouse rink will let skaters roll right through April 21.
Padro, who’s been skating at Star’s parties since the Coney Island days, says the Industry City space has a different feel. “It’s a little smaller, it’s a little more intimate,” she says.
Star calls the new rink a “visual rainbow unicorn paradise.”
“I got Day-Glo carpet that they have in traditional roller rinks that glows under black lights,” she says. “We have ceilings endowed with rotating disco balls and colorful lanterns. The walls have rainbows.”
Most nights, there’s a line out the door of skaters ready to party. On average, more than 250 skaters of various ages and skill levels show up to roll.
Jennifer Javier, 22, spent the night trying to make it around the rink. It was her first time skating, she tells The Post, and she came with friends to celebrate a birthday. “We were sick of bars and house parties,” she says. “This is something different. It’s hard! But it’s so fun.”
Other skaters say they love reliving the roller-disco days of yore. Renee Baskett, 42, of Brooklyn, says Star’s parties got her skating again for the first time since she was 13. “I was skating in the ’80s,” she says. “[This is] basically the same.”
Prince’s music bumps through the stereos. It’s all puffy shirts, fanny packs and acid-washed denim, plus wine, beer and prosecco at the bar. Star also invites entertainers to each party. The other week, vaudeville performers danced with LED hula hoops. At 9:15, the crowd gathers for a dance contest, where an applause-meter helps decide who was the best performer.
One night’s winner was Jeremias Watson, who’s skated weekly for the past decade.
“You can just be yourself, no pressure,” says the 31-year-old Rockaway resident, who came by himself that night. “If you don’t know how to skate, you’ll learn.”
Watson, who helped this unskilled reporter try to skate, compared skating to flying.
“It’s my stress reliever,” he says.
It’s skaters like Watson who make it look effortless, as I learned the hard way after several slips and falls. To the woman I fell on, I apologize.
Dreamland Roller Rink at Industry City, now until April 21. $11-$20 (includes skate rental). Roller-disco Friday nights, 7:30 to 10:30 p.m., 237 37th St., Sunset Park; DreamlandRollerRink.com
