For the past few months, the Rockefeller Center’s Lower Plaza has been under construction. Now, "Lower Plaza” probably doesn’t spark much name recognition among New Yorkers or, well, anyone reading this article. No one calls it that. Everyone calls it the ice skating rink, because for a few months, that’s what it is: a glorious place where New Yorkers and visitors alike glide under the Christmas tree all bundled up. Come March, however, it has historically switched to a space that is far less remarkable and accessible. (Previously, the Lower Plaza hosted a reservation-recommended restaurant where entrees hovered in the 30 to 40-dollar range.)
But, back to that construction: Today, it’s finally finished, and Rockefeller Center is ready to unveil a concept that aims to match the magic of its winter counterpart: Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace.
Yes, Rockefeller Center now has a roller skating rink. Its floors are made of tile, its walls are mirrored, and smack-dab in the middle of it all is a hot-pink-and-white logo. Off to the side is a locker room, collaged with black-and-white images of roller skaters past and present, and blue-suede and red-wheeled skates are available to rent. A food truck serves up pizza, and upbeat music is blasting throughout. (After all, if your name includes “boogie palace” you really gotta deliver on the audio.) It will be open to the public starting April 15.
The brain behind it all is model-actor Liberty Ross whose father, Flipper, once operated a rink of the same name in Los Angeles. It only lasted three years, from 1979 to 1981—“the same with Studio 54,” Ross points out—but it had an outsized impact on pop culture. “The best things are sometimes short lived in a weird way,” she muses. At night, Cher, Elton John, and Robin Williams twirled around the rink. During the day, children rushed to skate there after school, including Laura Dern, who had her 12th birthday there. But it was far from a place that solely catered to celebrity: her father’s Flippers, Ross recalls, was free of pretense, an open-minded space that welcomed all Angelenos. “You would meet people you would never never usually meet otherwise—kids from Compton were mixing with kids from Beverly Hills.” (Those aforementioned skaters collaged on the walls? Many are joyful, non-famous faces from the Flipper's photography archive.)
The pandemic—and subsequent uptick in skating—convinced Ross that the time was right to revive the family brand. Together with investor and producer Kevin Wall, they struck a deal with Rockefeller Center to open Flipper’s 2.0.
A few other high-profile names joined the project: Usher, who will be performing at the rink’s opening night, as well as Alexandre de Betak. His special events and production company, Bureau Betak, designed the space. “Inspired by sunny L.A., the fun and inclusivity of the ’70s/’80s original Flippers, and the generosity of Liberty, we designed a retro futuristic experience,” de Betak says of Flipper’s aesthetic. “Disco and punk, brutalist yet graphic, and of course with the full Betak maximal minimalistic sensory postmodern approach.” Saks also partnered with the group—currently, their 5th Avenue windows are decked out with ’70s, rock n’ roll skater-themed apparel, like shimmery chain-linked dresses and metallic pink jackets. One dollar from every Flipper’s skate rental will go towards the Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation, a mental health non-profit. (Ross connects skating with a myriad of mental health benefits: “When you strap on the wheels, everything goes away,” she says of the sport. “It’s escapism. It makes you feel good.”)
Despite the area’s touristy reputation, she hopes that Flipper’s—which will stay at Rockefeller center April through October—becomes a community for a city still dealing with the economic and social aftershocks of a global pandemic. Skating, she points out, is an everyman’s sport: “Rollerskating—you can do it from when you are three to 103. You can do it everyday, or you can have never done it. It doesn’t matter.” Plus, the equipment cost is minimal.
As she glances around the plaza which, on a warm spring day, is bustling with people craning to take a look at the rink below, it’s hard not to feel bullish about Flipper’s possibilities. “A year ago this place was a ghost town,” Ross says. “It feels amazing to bring this joy to the city.”
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