The Empire Skate Club of New York is a non-profit organization of inline skaters dedicated to having fun and bringing the New York City inline skating community closer together.

Big Apple Roll

BAR 2022 graphic

The Empire Skate Club's premier event each year is the Big Apple Roll (BAR), held in early August. BAR is a multi-day extravaganza of group skates, social events, clinics, and adventures exploring and experiencing New York City on inline skates.

Dates for BAR 2024 will not be officially announced until early 2024, but the weekend of Aug. 1-4 is probable.

Group Skates

Tuesday Night Skate

TNS at Fort Tryon

Empire's regular weeknight group skate is the Tuesday Night Skate. TNS skates year-round, weather permitting. The group meets up at Manhattan's Grand Army Plaza by the statue of General Sherman at 8:00 pm., Fifth Ave & 60th St. (map). This is also the southeast corner entrance to Central Park.

TNS is proud to be NYC's longest running group skate, dating back to c. 1989. Skate with us and join the tradition!

Wednesday Night Skate

On Wednesday nights, April through October, many NYC inline skaters join the Wednesday Night Skate (FB) for the largest weekly group skate in the city. WNS is an independent group with their own staff, but if you've rolled with any Empire group skate, you'll see plenty of familiar faces amongst the Wednesday crowd. WNS departs about 8 p.m. from the south side of Union Square Park, corner of Broadway and East 14th St. (map).

Weekend Skates

One of the best ways to explore the boroughs of New York City and its suburbs is a weekend group skate with the Empire Skate Club. We organize a group skate most weekends (and sometimes twice a weekend) during the warm-weather months. Pace and distance vary according to the group leader. Most weekend skates start from Central Park.

To find out what group skates are scheduled for upcoming weekends, and when and where they will meet, please see the Empire Calendar. To check for last-minute announcements about weekend skates that may be caused by a change of weather or other circumstances, please see the Empire Facebook page.

Speedskating

Group photo of Empire Speed skaters at the Curb

Join Empire Speed on the Central Park and Prospect Park loops from April through (maybe) October. There are typically two or three sessions per week.

Weekday evening sessions on the Central Park loop are usually Monday and Thursday, weather permitting, with Tuesday as a backup in case Monday is washed out. The group rolls out about 7 p.m. from “Speedskaters Curb” — just across the road and up the hill from Tavern on the Green (map).

On weekends, the gang rolls Sunday mornings on the Prospect Park loop. Meet-up is at the Bartel-Pritchard Circle park entrance (map), at the corner of Prospect Park West and 15th St. Start time varies depending on the season.

Check the Empire Speed Facebook page for latest announcements of training meet-ups.


Keep up with Empire Skate Club announcements and New York City inline skating info by following us on
Facebook, Instagram, Strava (Club), or Strava (Speed).