Central Park Has Two Rinks This Winter, and They Charge for Very Different Things

What does an hour on Central Park ice cost? This winter, a standard paid adult ticket runs anywhere from $5 to $40 before rentals, and the rink is only part of what decides it. The day of the week matters just as much, and so does whether the skater is 12 or 13.

Wollman Rink opened its 2026–27 season on October 28 and runs through March 16, 2027. The Gottesman Rink at the Davis Center, on the Harlem Meer, opened for community skating on November 1 and runs through March 8, 2027. Both rinks are open now. They sit about two miles apart inside the same park, and the way each one charges points to a different kind of skater. The Gottesman Rink is priced for someone who comes back every week. Wollman is priced for a big night out, with a few side doors that let New Yorkers in for much less.

The Two Price Sheets, Side by Side

Wollman's prices come from its 2026–27 visitor page, which says all prices include tax. The Gottesman figures come from the Davis Center's Community Skate page. At Gottesman, every session lasts 80 minutes, and figure and hockey skates rent for $10 a session.

The Age Line Is Where Families Feel It Most

Each rink draws its child cutoff at a different age, and for families that matters more than the adult price. At Wollman, a skater becomes an adult at 13. At the Gottesman Rink, a 16-year-old still pays the $5 child rate. So a 14-year-old skating on a prime-priced date pays $40 at the south end of the park and $5 at the north end.

Here is the math for two adults, an 8-year-old and a 14-year-old, everyone renting skates:

1. Gottesman on a weekend, which is peak all day: $10 + $10 for the adults, $5 + $5 for the kids, plus four $10 rentals, for $70.
2. Wollman at off-peak pricing: three adult tickets at $16, one child at $12, plus four $12 rentals, for $108.
3. Wollman at peak pricing: three adults at $28, one child at $12, plus rentals, for $144.
4. Wollman at prime pricing: three adults at $40, one child at $12, plus rentals, for $180.

Wollman marks peak and prime dates on its online calendar, so check which tier a given Saturday falls in before you buy. Seniors are the one group where Wollman's price stays flat. Anyone 65 or older pays $12 there no matter the tier. The Gottesman Rink lists no senior rate, so an older skater pays the adult price of $5 off-peak or $10 peak, which is still lower.

The Hours Decide Who Gets Weeknights

When each rink lets the public skate matters as much as what it charges.

Wollman closes at 2:30 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays. It stays open until 9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. At the Gottesman Rink, weekday off-peak runs from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and peak runs from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Weekends and NYC public school holidays and vacation days count as peak all day. The Davis Center lists the building as open daily from 7 a.m. to midnight from November 1 through March 7, 2027.

Three time slots favor the north end.

• Monday and Tuesday evenings. These belong entirely to the Gottesman Rink, since Wollman is closed by mid-afternoon.
• Early mornings. The Davis Center opens at 7 a.m., and off-peak adult admission then is $5.
• School holidays. These count as peak at Gottesman, but peak there is still $10 for an adult.

The Davis Center site doesn't post a fixed list of daily session start times. Tickets are booked by date through the Conservancy's ticket portal, so pick your session online before you walk up to 110th Street.

When a Season Pass Pays Off

The $250 adult season pass at the Gottesman Rink equals 25 peak sessions at $10, or 50 off-peak sessions at $5. The skating season runs from November 1 to March 8, about 18 weeks. An adult who skates once a week, always at peak times, would spend about $180 on single tickets. The pass only comes out ahead once you skate more often than that, or once you add a second weekly session. The $100 child pass covers the cost of 20 sessions at $5.

Wollman lists no season pass at all. That fits the rest of its pricing, which is built around single visits.

The Ways Into Wollman for Less

Wollman's top price is $40 for an adult, but the rink also offers two discounts that are meant for New Yorkers.

The first is WRAP. For $16 at any tier, someone with a physical IDNYC card or New York Public Library card gets admission, skate rental and hot cocoa. It is walk-up only and applies during public skating. On a prime-priced date, the same adult would otherwise pay $52 for admission and rental. WRAP saves $36, and the cocoa comes free.

The second is Community Days. On these dates, admission is free for the group being honored, and the rest of the tickets sell at peak price. The opening-weekend Community Days on October 31 and November 1 were open to everyone. Here is what's left this season:

• November 11, Veterans Day: veterans, active-duty military and their families
• January 18, MLK Day: teachers and their families
• February 15, Presidents' Day: public sector employees and their families
• March 14 to 16, End of Season: everyone

A few extra costs are worth knowing before you go. Wollman's skate aids, for children under four feet tall, rent for $25. Lockers cost $8, and skate sharpening costs $20. Tickets can't be refunded, and once you leave the rink you can't come back in.

Why the North End Feels Like a Rec Center

Low prices are only part of what sets the Davis Center apart. It also runs a full schedule of programs.

The Learn to Skate program offers 30-minute group lessons for every age from toddlers to adults, in six-week sessions, with rentals included for registered skaters. Open Hockey is a one-hour session with no referee for ages 10 and up. It costs $20 per player, and goalies play free. Stick & Puck is also $20 a session. The adult instructional hockey league costs $400 for a 10-week session, or $45 for a single drop-in class.

The Central Park Conservancy's one-year report from April 29, 2026 said the rink drew more than 40,000 program participants across public skating, lessons and hockey clinics. It also said the whole Davis Center had welcomed more than 170,000 visitors since it opened in April 2025. The same report named Figure Skating in Harlem and Ice Hockey in Harlem among the groups using the ice, and described ice time set aside for schools.

The building around the rink is a place to spend time, too. The indoor gathering space is free and open to the public daily. Outside of pool season, visitors can bring their own food. Groups of more than 20 need approval first. The snack bar, Settepani on the Meer, is typically open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, though hours can change.

This Season Was Scheduled Two Weeks Earlier

Last year, the Gottesman Rink's first opening weekend, planned for November 15 and 16, was pushed back by technical problems, and tickets for those dates were refunded. Time Out New York covered the rink as newly opened on November 24, 2025. A week later, West Side Rag found the rink and the indoor commons uncrowded, even though the weather was good.

This year, the Conservancy set the opening for November 1 and planned a free 30-minute group lesson with skates included, followed by public sessions with a DJ. That date is two weeks ahead of last year's plan. If you're heading up from the East Side, the Davis Center's FAQ lists an entrance at 110th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard, plus the paths and new boardwalk along the Meer. The Harlem Meer shoreline restoration is still listed as under construction. That project will connect the Davis Center to the Conservatory Garden.

Wollman's Last Winter Before Its New Contract

Wollman's pricing may change after this season, because the rink is getting a new long-term operator. As West Side Rag reported in October 2025, the city picked Wollman Park Partners II, a partnership between Related Companies and CityPickle, for a 20-year contract that begins May 1, 2027. Related had already been one of the rink's operators for four years, and CityPickle had run 14 pickleball courts there in the warmer months for two years. The deal is worth more than $100 million to the city. It includes a minimum of $10.9 million in capital work, a new energy-efficient ice-making system and a year-round community center. The 2026–27 season ends March 16, a few weeks before the new contract starts.

Some of the walk between the two rinks looks different this winter too. A restoration of Bethesda Fountain began in August 2026. The Conservancy's park alerts say the fountain is turned off but Bethesda Terrace is still open. The Great Lawn closed early this season for ballfield work, and West Side Rag reports that it should reopen in spring 2027.

Knowing the parts of Central Park you'd actually use, from the Meer to the south-end rink, is part of how we help people choose a home around it. Our neighborhood pages for the Upper West Side, the Upper East Side and Harlem cover the streets on every side of the park. If you'd like to talk through which side suits your routine, Piere Michel is glad to help. Book an Appointment.