NYC to allow Central Park ice rinks to stay open for rest of season

“New York City kids deserve all the time on the ice they can get this year,” Bill Neidhardt, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s press secretary, said in a statement. “The Wollman and Lasker rinks will stay open under current management for the few weeks left in this season. But make no mistake, we will not be doing business with the Trump Organization going forward. Inciting an insurrection will never be forgotten or forgiven.”

Although the contract with the Trump Organization runs through April, the leases to the Wollman Rink and the Lasker Rink were set to be terminated on February 26. The original Sunday closing date had been chosen to allow time for the Trump Organization to move out.

Families decried the move, with one skater pleading for more time. “So much has been taken away from us this year, and this was one thing that was kind of holding us all together,” Mya Henning told CBS New York. “It’s only, like, six weeks more that we’re asking for.”

Eric Trump, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization and former President Trump’s son, issued a statement to CBS New York calling the move “a political stunt that only hurts New Yorkers.”

After the decision was reversed, Trump thanked de Blasio on Twitter, and said he looks “forward to saying ‘thanks’ in person.”

The Trump Organization will also no longer operate the carousel in Central Park as well as a golf course in the Bronx. The Trump Organization is appealing the city’s decision to cut ties.

The city is looking for a replacement operators, though it’s unclear when a replacement will be named.