THE DESTINATION
The Harlem Meer and the New Davis Center and Gottesman Pool
106-51 East Drive, Central Park OR 110th & Lenox Avenue

THE JOURNEY
We drove and parked on Central Park North one evening after 6p in early August because we were headed north anyway.
About 30 minutes on the 2/3 to 110th – Malcolm X Plaza — the stop is right there on Central Park North and Malcolm X, at the entrance to the Meer.

THE DETAILS
The Central Park Conservancy rebuilt the former Lasker Rink and Pool and it’s amazing. The pool is spectacular — worth seeing even if you don’t want to swim — there are brand-new restrooms and changing rooms, the whole thing is tucked into the hill behind it with a green roof and skylights. There’s a new boardwalk surrounding the meer, and you can stroll along the perimeter, come back around on the bridal path and loop back to the historic Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, with its visitor center and restrooms.

We entered the park from Central Park North and headed straight past the pool to wander some of the paths in the park south of the pool — through the Huddlestone Arch to an area called the North Woods Loch, with its waterfalls and streams. There are cool walking paths and boardwalks everywhere — we didn’t even explore a fraction of it. If you followed The Loch, you would eventually get to The Pool, which is around 101st Street on the west side of the park.

Gottesman Pool hours through September 7:
11a to 7p daily
Pool closed for cleaning from 3 to 4p
Sessions are generally one hour long

PRO TIP
We did not swim, but some local kids told us they have not had to wait in line all summer — there is a cap, of course. The sessions are one hour long; see the timing below. Ice rink hours will be made public in early fall 2025.

THE BACKGROUND
The $160 million transformation of the Lasker Rink and Pool site on the Harlem Meer is the most significant and complex project ever undertaken by the Conservancy. The Davis Center now offers new outdoor activities and provides access across the north end of the park by reconnecting the watercourse that travels through The Ravine, allowing it to run unobstructed from The Pool into The Meer, and re-establishing the pedestrian path that was once alongside it.

There is now:
A full-scale ice rink
A larger-than-Olympic-size pool
A new outdoor spray pad
Year-round access to restrooms and amenities and more community programming
A boardwalk through freshwater marsh plantings at the edge of the water body

PIT STOP
We grabbed sandwiches at Cafe Amrita on 110th and Frederick Douglass. There’s a Dunkin nearby, and of course lots of options for dining out once you head up Frederick Douglass at around 118th: we love Vinateria, but there’s also Harlem Tavern and BLVD Bistro on Frederick Douglass around 116th.