A New Rink Opens in New York
By Chester Fried and Mara Montalbano
An old past time is
about to make a come back here on Staten Island, as the first roller
rink in more than two decades is set to open its doors this summer.
It'll be the only one of its kind in the city following the closure of
the Empire Roller Skating Rink in Brooklyn back in April. NY1’s Mara
Montalbano filed the following report. It's a modern twist on an old
classic. When Roller Jam USA opens its doors, owners say they hope it
ushers in a whole new age of roller disco.
More than 800 brand new pairs of skates are just waiting to roll out
onto the new rink. “We look at ourselves as the new generation, so to
speak,” said Roller Jam USA Owner Joe Costa. “We are using all the new
technologies that are out there today. When the music is playing, the
video for the music is up on the big screen. The lighting system is
phenomenal. It's really something to see. We wanted to make it more of a
club-ish, lounge-ish type of feel.”
Managers say customers are already calling about parties. In the age of
creative weddings, managers say they're also hoping to persuade someone
to have a first-of-its-kind at their rink. “We're going to have the
first wedding on wheels,” said Phil Gallina, the concession manager.
“The bride and groom will be on wheels, roll out to the priest; it'll be
great.”
The new facility was definitely designed with kids in mind; the owners
of Roller Jam USA say they also wanted to appeal to adults to give older
generations an opportunity to relive their childhood. “It was a place
to go. It was a place where I went. I felt good,” said Costa. “I loved
skating and music. I loved the interacting and meeting other people, but
I was young. I was in my teens and it was the first time I might have
asked a girl if she'd like to skate.”
With a 15 year lease on the property, which is just minutes from the
Outerbridge Crossing, they say the only roller rink in the city will not
go down in history any time soon.
Chester Fried has been to Roller Jam USA. The following is his report
about his skating time there…”I just skated at the first true 21st
Century roller rink built in Staten Island, New York. It is truly a
skater’s heaven on wheels,” reports Chester Fried. He went on to say,
“Joe and Tom Costa built their Roller Jam USA Rink, 236 Richmond Valley
Road, Staten Island, with the club retro Disco theme in mind. The best
sound and lighting system money could buy were installed. Each corner
of the rink has four JBL speakers for the bass sub woofer sound. In the
ceiling they have 12 Turbo Sound speakers, all focused on the skating
surface so you can hear yourself talk when off the skating floor. The
blue plastic floor is coated by Tite Coat International of Fulton, MS.
It is 100% tight and level—no seams, no high spots, and no low spots.
The extreme level skating surface is due to the precise leveling by
using laser beams. Interesting! The skating floor is tight, yet it is
smooth as glass—not a bump or dip anywhere.”
The sounds
and lights take you away to another
time when disco was king! The skaters
really got into the music—it was a great experience.
There were all new rental skates and a large snack bar with three party rooms that can be turned into one or two rooms by moving partitions. The Edys soft ice cream machine was a big hit with customers as well as the staff. There is no clean-up of the inside of the machine; the ice ream is in soft plastic bags, a real time saver. From the snack bar you can go into the outside veranda and sit down on chairs and still be wearing your skates! I especially like d the carpet by Riedell in the front of the skate room. It features all size feet, so you just put your foot over the carpeted area and find out what size rental you are. Again—this is a real time saver for the new skaters and their moms who are not sure of what size skate rental that their children might wear.
The rink has lounge chairs along the rink side. The bathrooms are top-notch with automatic flush toilets, urinals and sinks. Also, there are top-of-the-line rubberized floors in the party rooms and bathrooms. “
Chester explained, “Staten Island is one of five boroughs of New York City. There has not been a rink is Staten Island since the early 1980’s. The famous Roxy Rink in New York City closed last week. The world famous Copacabana night club has purchased the Roxy building, as they lost their lease. Roller Jam will pick up customers from the Roxy. Go online to www.RollerJamUSA.com to check out this new facility.” We look forward to hearing more about this wonderful skating facility. Chester reports that the owners are looking for skating teachers. Classes and lessons will be a very important part of their program. Chester informed me that he will be working with the owners to start a Friday morning adult session. m, Chester continued in a tone that tells us just how impressed he was, “I skated the Saturday night adult session from 9:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. to the music of DJ Tito. The sounds and lights take you away to another