Press Release
New York, NY (November 24, 2025) – This weekend, the Central Park Conservancy – the nonprofit civic institution that manages Central Park – officially opened the new Gottesman Rink at the Davis Center. The rink, which replaces the outdated Lasker facility, was conceived as part of a larger re-envisioning of the site by the Conservancy’s landscape architecture team, restoring the Park’s north end and delivering year-round space for the Harlem community. The Davis Center was designed by Susan T Rodriguez | Architecture • Design and Mitchell Giurgola Architects in collaboration with the Conservancy, building on the recent restoration of the Ravine to the south.
The $160 million Davis Center at the Harlem Meer is the Central Park Conservancy’s most significant and ambitious undertaking to date, and the capstone to a decades-long effort to revitalize the northern end of the Park. Replacing the disruptive and outdated Lasker Rink and Pool, the new facility offers year-round community access through a swimming pool that transforms into an ice rink in winter and a new public green, the Harlem Oval, in shoulder seasons. Grounded in years of collaboration with Harlem leaders and organizations, the Conservancy’s community-first approach shaped a facility that meets the neighborhood’s needs today. This inaugural rink season celebrates that partnership and the Conservancy’s commitment to access for all.
In line with the Conservancy’s ongoing effort to promote accessible, open public space, the full-size ice rink fills a programmatic gap in the community by providing much-needed access for public skate time, skating and hockey lessons for all ages and ice time for local schools and community organizations. The Conservancy is working closely with a number of local small businesses and nonprofits to facilitate the various free and low-cost programming offered during the rink season. Programming at the Davis Center is generously funded by lead donors JPMorganChase, Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), Shelly & George Lazarus, Philip & Alicia Hammarskjold, and Paula & Jeffrey Gural. More information about programs and the initial calendar of events here.
“With the opening of the Gottesman Rink, the Central Park Conservancy celebrates both a new chapter for the Davis Center and the culmination of more than four decades of dedication to Central Park,” said Betsy Smith, President and CEO of the Central Park Conservancy. “What began in 1980 with a few determined volunteers has grown into a parkwide transformation that reimagines what’s possible in public greenspace. The Davis Center now stands as a year-round destination, a vibrant reflection of our commitment to serving all New Yorkers for generations to come.”
“The Gottesman Rink is an exciting new chapter in the long-term investment in Central Park’s north end, especially with the curation of inclusive recreational and cultural activities year-round,” said Darline Lalanne, Director of Public Programs and Davis Center at Central Park Conservancy. “We made a point to work alongside the local community in the design and facilitation of these programs to create an open space, so everyone, no matter their income, can experience a sanctuary from the fast-paced city life.”
The new facility fuses landscape and architecture to create a year-round, community-focused facility seamlessly integrated into the Park landscape. Built with a sweeping green roof and panoramic views of the Harlem Meer, the Davis Center features a light-filled gathering space and a seasonally transforming pool and rink in the context of restored natural landscapes, including a reconstituted stream course and wetland edge. Sustainably designed for LEED Gold certification, the project represents a once-in-a-generation investment in park restoration, ecological renewal, and community equity. Learn more about the design here and the design leadership here.
After the project was announced in 2019, construction began in 2021 to create a state-of-the-art, year-round facility for the local Harlem community. The Conservancy’s work in the Park’s north end has been ongoing since the organization’s founding in the 1980s, with the restorations of the Harlem Meer, one of the first major projects, occurring in 1989. The Conservancy has invested over $310 million into the Park north of 97th Street over the past four decades – approximately one third of the more than $1 billion that the Conservancy has invested into Central Park as a whole since its founding in 1980.
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