Although New York City may be known for being a constant battle for the top of the pack, there’s one place where everyone is always on a level — or at least perfectly level — playing field: the Rockefeller Center ice rink.
The approximately 7,000 square foot ice rink in the heart of Manhattan has been cut to pieces by New Yorkers from every borough, tourists from every part of the world and alongside them numerous celebrities, occasional statesmen and professional athletes like.
Among the upper echelons who often hit the ice in New York City were the Kennedy family — including Jackie O — who over the years have performed at The Rink at Rockefeller Center, along with Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant rink, where Robert Kennedy’s family threw an annual skating party in his memory after his commission.
The Rink at Rockefeller Center was built in 1936 as a temporary installation, but after its rising popularity it became an instant fixture.
Another popular place for New Yorkers to skate in winter is Central Park’s frozen ponds, which have been frozen since the park’s completion in the late 18th century.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis standing on her ice skates on the ice rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City in 1970
Ethel Kennedy, wife of Robert Kennedy, rides hand in hand with a group of children around the Rockefeller Ice Rink in 1960
Kerry Kennedy (left), Ethel Kennedy (center) and Courtney Kennedy (right) skate during a party for the center at a Brooklyn ice rink at the Bedford Styvesant Restoration Center
The entire Robert Kennedy clan skate on The Rink at Rockefeller Center when he was elected New York Senator just before Christmas 1964. From left: son Michael, 6; daughter Courtney, 8; his wife Ethel; daughter Kathleen, 13; son David, 9; and son Joe, 12; and Robert
Robert Kennedy leads his wife Ethel through The Rink at Rockefeller Center in January 1968. Both are dressed to impress as usual, with Ethel wearing a matching fur coat and hat, leather gloves and white ice skates
In 1974, Ethel Kennedy films a young girl on an ice rink in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, during the annual ice skating party the family threw in memory of Robert, who was murdered in 1968
Not quite skating, but close enough: Robert Kennedy Jr. skates with Shaquana Chriswell, 5, of Brooklyn, NY (left) and her cousin Natania Pilgrim, 8, in December 1989 at the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in Brooklyn at the 24 RF Kennedy Memorial ice skating party
A girl falls into the ice and asks her friends for help, but they are more interested in the camera. The trio skate in Central Park in 1960
View of the Rockefeller Center ice rink filled with visitors during the Christmas season in December 1969. A line of people waiting their turn can be seen streaming up the stairs to Fifth Avenue. Spectators can also be seen lining The Rink
A quiet day at The Rink at Rockefeller Center in December 1969. Santa Claus himself is helping a girl
Peggy Fleming, 20, carves the ice in Rockefeller Center’s ice rink. Fleming was a three-time world figure skating champion and the only American figure skater to win a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics
Skaters carve the melting ice at a Center Park ice rink late on a warm day in 1961
Skaters flock to the Rockefeller Center ice rink as the traditional massive Christmas tree is put up
Skaters dressed in all colors at Wollman Rink in Central Park in 1989
A man stands on his hands while other skaters look on at a Brooklyn ice rink in 1923
Four figure skaters strutted on the ice in Central Park in 1952
Participants in a 220-yard race start on a Central Park ice rink in 1931
A mother, father and daughter shake hands as they skate across a frozen pond in Central Park in 1938
A group of girls help each other out at a Central Park ice rink in 1955
A girl spills in the first round of the intermediate class of the Silver Skates Derby in Central Park, year unknown
Two ice skaters get down to business during a race through a Central Park ice rink in 1900, while spectators on skates look on
A group of warmly dressed New Yorkers adjust their skates on a bench next to a frozen pond in Central Park in 1895
A couple work together on the ice of a frozen pond in Central Park in the 1880s, shortly after the park opened
New Yorkers in suits and dresses on the ice in Central Park in January 1981