On the Water: Freezing Cold, but Loving Every Minute

NEW YORK—Every year, the winter season hits New York City with the same intensity. Yet somehow, it’s always a shock.

“Can you believe how cold it is?” people complain to each other as soon as the temperature dips below 35 degrees. Well, 27 degrees with the wind chill.

Life in a city where just getting between work and home involves picking your way over ice-covered sidewalks, waiting for the train on freezing cold platforms, and waddling around in layers of heavy clothing entitles even the toughest among us to complaints.

There are a few tricks to making it through with a little extra cheer, though. Chief among them is taking a trip to the Standard Hotel’s ice skating rink in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. It’s easy to get there on the A, C, E and L trains. There are a number of excellent restaurants nearby, and it’s in an interesting and relatively low-key part of town. It’s $12 to get on the ice and $3 to rent skates. 

The Standard’s ice rink is small, which makes it a great place to take kids. Also there are outdoor tables facing the rink in a semi-enclosed section. That means you can go ice skating with friends or family and you don’t have to actually get on the ice. The hotel has its own snack shack at the edge of the rink that offers handmade artisan doughnuts, both sweet and savory. They also serve a wide variety of food that includes tuna tartare, salads, soups, chicken and hamburgers. 

It’s worth it even if you just go for the ambiance 

The other great part of the Standard’s ice rink is that it’s not on the scale of some other rinks around New York like those in Rockefeller Center, Central Park, and Bryant Park. It almost feels as if you’ve found a sweet little winter escape that is the best kept secret in town.

Although this past weekend had record-setting warm temperatures, rest assured the cold will be back. When it does come back and when it gets to be a bit too hard to deal with the dark depths of winter, head to the Standard. It’s the best way to embrace the city’s harshest season and find a reason to appreciate the bitter cold.