Latest news with #ProspectParkAlliance
New York Post
03-08-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Popular roller disco nixed at NYC park — and locals are wheely fuming
5 Dreamland Roller Disco will no longer be offered at Prospect Park's LeFrak Center at Lakeside. Dreamland Roller Disco A popular weekly summer roller-disco event in Brooklyn's Prospect Park has gotten the wheels pulled out from under it — and locals are in an uproar. The Dreamland Roller Disco — filled with DJs, dancers and drag queens — was scrapped earlier this month when organizer Lola Star refused to accept a 50% pay cut from the new operator of the LeFrak Center at Lakeside, according to a petition to 'save' the event. The center, where Roller Disco was held for 11 years during the summer, underwent a massive $74 million renovation and opened again this past weekend — without the disco on its calendar. 'It was like a three-ring circus — it was a vibe and energy that I honestly have not seen anywhere else,' longtime Dreamland attendee and skate guard Billy Tyler Smith, 60, told The Post, referring to Roller Disco. 5 Roller Disco fans have flocked to the event for 11 years. Dreamland Roller Disco 'They were my other family.' Scott Lindeman, who had been skating at Dreamland events with his wife since 2015, said, 'It blows my mind that they would throw something away like that. 'People are going to lose out on one of the greatest social events that occurred every Friday night.'' 5 Locals have launched a petition to try to save the event. Dreamland Roller Disco The petition to try to save the event has amassed more than 1,200 supporters so far. Star claimed to The Post that the rink's lowball offer was an act of retaliation because she previously called out safety issues at the venue such as understaffing, hazardous debris and a 'significant decline' in security. 'When it would rain, they wouldn't want to cancel the event because they didn't want to lose money, but water from the rain would blow onto the rink and be slippery,'' she said. In a statement to The Post about the nixed Dreamland event season, the Prospect Park Alliance, a nonprofit that works with the city to help maintain the famed green space, said it is looking to 'work with a range of producers on a rotating schedule of Roller Disco events.' 5 'The thing that I love about Dreamland is the community that Lola has created over the years,' a fan said of operator Lola Star. Dreamland Roller Disco The alliance claimed it 'attempted to engage in good faith with Lola Star to bring back the Dreamland Disco, but at every step she has made this untenable.' Star retorted that she was ignored after an in-person meeting in July in which new rink operator Ekstein Development Group 'demanded to see our financial history — despite our proven success — and said their accounting department would decide if and how Dreamland would be allowed to return to our home for 11 years.' Star said she is already in search of a new home, visiting potential spaces for the larger-than-life event series. 5 Fans flock to the colorful event. Dreamland Roller Disco Smith said of Star's opponents, 'It's classic 'penny wise, pound foolish' business practices. 'New York City cannot lose Lola. … She's majorly responsible for the popularity of roller skating and its slow resurgence.'
Time Out
28-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
LeFrak Center picks up pickleball — and drops Lola Star's roller disco
At just 12 years old, LeFrak Center has already gone in for a little refresh, making us reach for the red light mask ourselves. But now, Prospect Park Alliance's much-loved center at Lakeside is back, and it's looking good. After a long-anticipated renovation, the beloved Brooklyn destination reopens August 2 with a fresh slate of activities, new concessions, a sleek new look, and, for the first time, pickleball courts. Yes, the country's favorite low-impact sport has landed lakeside, joining roller skating, pedal boats, and Brooklyn's largest splash pad as part of the revamped summertime lineup. RECOMMENDED: The best NYC events in August 2025 The reopening marks the first major upgrade to the LeFrak Center since it opened in 2013, transforming a shuttered skating rink and cracked parking lot into one of the city's most dynamic outdoor recreation hubs. Now, a dozen years later, Lakeside has gotten a full glow-up: improved lighting, upgraded restrooms, shiny new mechanical systems, and Duck Island Cafe, a redesigned café and bar from Purslane/Oberon Restaurant Group, that will offer seasonal menus. 'The LeFrak Center at Lakeside is one of the most ambitious projects in Prospect Park Alliance's history,' said Prospect Park Alliance President Morgan Monaco in a statement. 'Since its opening in 2013, we have served hundreds of thousands of community members each year with dynamic programs and activities. With the selection of new operators, extensive renovations, and the appointment of the first LeFrak Center Director, we are looking at a bright future.' One noticeable change: the absence of Dreamland Roller Disco, the long-running, Lola Star–led Friday night tradition that turned Lakeside into a sequined dance party. The Prospect Park Alliance says skating events will continue, but Dreamland's farewell marks the end of an era for many, including Star, who launched a petition to restore Dreamland. 'A private corporation should not have the power to decide the fate of a beloved community program that has brought joy, connection and meaning to thousands of Brooklynites,' she wrote. 'We believe there should be room for new and inclusive programming at LeFrak. But that should not come at the cost of displacing beloved, community-rooted weekly events like Dreamland Roller Disco.' Re-opening weekend will be a mini-festival in itself, with free admission to select activities like skating and yoga, and first-come access to the new pickleball courts. It's the perfect excuse to see what's changed, what's stayed, and how the neighborhood is responding. RSVP for the full lineup of activities and events.
Time Out
06-06-2025
- General
- Time Out
The Grand Army Plaza Arch is finally free of scaffolding, two very long years later
Brooklyn's iconic Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch is back—and looking better than it has in decades. After more than two years under wraps, the 132-year-old monument has emerged from an $8.9 million restoration project that scrubbed off a century of grime, patched up structural damage and gave the Arch a new lease on its very stately life. Unveiled at a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday, the restoration marks the first major upgrade to the arch in nearly 50 years. Funded by mayoral allocations and led by the Prospect Park Alliance, the sweeping renovation tackled everything from replacing the crumbling roof to restoring its ornate bronze statuary and cast-iron spiral staircases. No detail was too small or too historically significant for the project. With the original blueprints lost to time, the Alliance's in-house architects used radar and magnetic imaging to digitally map the arch's guts before reinforcing it with steel supports and a new drainage system. Mortar samples were tested in labs to match the original 19th-century Rosendale cement, while damaged granite was replaced with stone from the same region in Maine as the original supplier. Energy-efficient lighting now spotlights the arch's bronze masterpieces by Frederick MacMonnies and others, including the once-toppled quadriga sculpture that famously fell from the arch in 1976, a collapse that eventually sparked the founding of the Prospect Park Alliance. But the glow-up didn't stop at the arch itself. The surrounding plaza and berms also got a facelift: Nearly 200 native trees were planted, invasive vegetation removed, crumbling bluestone repaired and a new low steel fence replaced a long-standing chain-link eyesore. The upgrades earned the city's highest preservation honor, the Lucy G. Moses Award. City officials turned out to celebrate the arch's long-awaited return. 'The Grand Army Plaza Arch stands not only as a gateway to Prospect Park, but as a powerful symbol of Brooklyn's history, resilience and pride,' said Mayor Eric Adams. NYC Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa called it 'a tribute to the New Yorkers who gave their lives in the Civil War,' and said the upgrades reflect that 'New Yorkers deserve the best from their public realm.' Prospect Park Alliance President Morgan Monaco added, 'This makes the arch a true monument of the people, welcoming all into Prospect Park and signifying that this is a place where all in our community are celebrated and seen.'
