Skate Shops

Skate Shops: Manhattan

Basic Wheels
94 Hester St. at Eldridge St., 212-226-1698
http://www.basicwheels.net
    Although a small shop, it carries a surprising amount of product, perhaps because they're not wasting any space on T-shirts and such. They have a reasonable selection of recreational/fitness skates, but of note is that the aggressive skate wheels selection seems especially large. Prices seem to be about average or better.

Blades Board & Skate
http://www.blades.com
    As skate shops go, this is pretty much the Manhattan chain, especially after they bought out NYC Skate in the mid '90s and several independent shops closed in 1999-2000. The Blades stores with the largest floorspace and probably the best stock are Blades West, Blades Chelsea Piers, Blades Downtown, and perhaps Blades East. At other Blades shops, floor space is more limited and so while there will usually be a decent collection of skates, it probably won't be as diverse. Generally speaking though, the selection is much less reliant on Rollerblade than it used to be, and depending on which store you visit, you can also find various Salomons, K2s, Roceses, Bauers, CCMs, Tecnicas, etc.
    Blades' skate prices are usually at or near standard (since the chain is so much of the Manhattan market, their prices probably define the standard), but they have had a tendency to lag other stores by a few weeks when it comes to seasonal price cuts. Prices on replaceables such as wheels have in years past been way high, but now no longer seem to be so out of whack. Also, Blades offers a 30-day price guarantee if you find another shop in town that beats the price you paid.
    Rentals are available at most, if not all, of the Blades shops. The last time I checked (which, admittedly, was a long time ago), rates were $16 on weekdays, $16 for two hours on weekends, and $27 for "all day" on weekends; deposit required.
    Besides possible differences in skate selection, the various Blades stores also have differing reputations for customer service and thus tend to have personalities of their own.
    Shops at:
160 E. 86th St, Tel: 212-996-1644
6559 Broadway, Tel: 212-447-7350
128 Chambers St, Tel: 212-964-1944
Manhattan Mall, Tel: 212-563-2448
1414 Second Ave, Tel: 212-249-3178
77 St, Tel: 212-336-6299
120 W 72nd St, Tel: 212-787-3911

Blades West
120 West 72nd St btw Columbus Ave. and Broadway, 212-787-3911:
    In many ways the chain's mothership due to its convenient location near Central Park. Comments have been up and down -- "disinterested sales staff" to "incredibly helpful if the store isn't busy" -- with the worst comments usually being made when they've expanded staff for the summer busy season and the best from fall through early spring. They also seem to be most helpful on weekdays.
    This store is a prime site for inline rentals, being located only a block and a half from the West 72nd St. entrance to Central Park (and the summer weekend Skate Patrol stopping clinic). This also means the store turns into a major zoo on sunny, warm weekend afternoons. Come October and through mid-winter, though, it turns heavily to snowboard sales and you'll have to wind your way through the ski garb to find the skates.

Blades Second Ave
1414 Second Ave. at 74th St., 212-249-3178:
    Comments on the staff here have also been a bit mixed, but I personally found them much more helpful than Blades West when it came to dealing with a defective skate. However, the store is smaller than most others in the chain.

Blades East
160 East 86th St. btw Lexington and Third Aves., 212-996-1644:
    At one time a very small shop, but has expanded its floor space over the last few years.

Blades Midtown
Manhattan Mall (4th Level), Herald Square, 100 West 33rd St. at Sixth Ave., 212-563-2448:
    A pale shadow of the rest of the chain, with the most limited selection. But what do you expect from a mall store.

Blades Chelsea Piers
Pier 62, 22nd St at West Side Hwy, 212-336-6199:
    There are actually two Blades stores at the Piers, one with inline skates near the Pier 62 entrance and another with ice skates by the Sky Rink on the second level of Pier 61. The inline store is pretty sizeable and has a decent skate selection, particularly of rollerhockey skates.

Blades Downtown
659 Broadway at Bond St., 212-477-7350:
    Seems to be much more into skateboards and snowboards than most other stores in the chain, but they have more than enough floor space to get away with it. The staff seems pretty helpful.

Blades Tribeca
128 Chambers St. at West Broadway, 212-964-1944:
    Formerly Alex Sport and then the main store of NYC Skate, this shop was known for having some of the best prices in town, but now that it's part of the Blade chain, its prices are the same as the rest of the stores. The thing that makes this shop stick out is that as of late 1997 it seems to have been designated the chain's "clearance center". In other words, what stray pairs of old skate models were never sold by the other shops end up on the shelves here. Thus, if you're looking for a pair of the really old purple-and-lime Lightning TRSes or one-shot models like the Racerblade, this is likely the only place in town where you have any chance of finding them. The shop is also strategically located about three blocks from the junction of Battery Park City and the West Side bikepath, so as you might expect, inline rentals are a big thing here.

Cheapskater
http://www.cheapskater.com, info@cheapskater.com
    Closed their Manhattan retail outlet in early 2000, and shifted all in-store sales to a new location in Peekskill. City folk can, however, still obtain skates and components from them through on-line mail-order on the store website.

City Sports
Citicorp Center, 153 E. 53rd Street btw Lexington and Third Aves., 212-317-0541
http://www.citysports.com
    Branch of the Boston-based sporting goods chain. Small to moderate-sized collection of skates. Prices hard to evaluate, as a nice sale was in progress during my only visit. Offers a 10% discount to Empire Skate Club members.

G & S Sports
43 Essex St., 212-777-7590

Inline Plus
25 East 33rd St. btw Fifth and Madison Aves., 212-889-4377
    Cheap brands of inline, quad, and ice skates, plus protective gear.

Mercury Skate Shop at The Hub Station
517 Broome St. and West Broadway; 212-965-9334, jbreza@aol.com
    The Hub Station is a "human-powered vehicle service station", i.e., a big bicycle repair shop. The Mercury Skate Shop is small area within that fixes skates and offers a small variety of skates and parts for sale. Offers an 8% discount to members of the Empire Skate Club.

Modell's
280 Broadway, 212-962-6200 -- 243 West 42nd St., 212-575-8111 -- 901 Sixth Ave., 212-594-1830

New York Pipe Dreams
1623 York Ave. btw 85th and 86th Sts., 212-535-PIPE
    Skate and boards. Same location as the old Island Sports.

Paragon Sporting Goods
867 Broadway at 18th St., 212-255-8036
http://www.paragonsports.com
    Giant sporting goods store with one of the better inline skate selections in town at standard prices. Accessory and spare parts selection is also extensive and the prices also seem okay. A sign at the front door says they'll meet any local competitor's price. Most importantly, though, Paragon is usually just about the first skate merchant in the city to start end-of-summer sales, and so its skate prices usually start dropping in mid-August. The staff that have waited on me appeared reasonably knowledgable, but this can be a busy place. Try to pick an off-peak time to visit if you want a salesperson who has time to do more than retrieve skates from the storeroom.

Peck & Goodie
917 Eighth Ave. btw 54th and 55th Sts., 212-246-6123
    A small store which can be hard to spot. Skate selection is neverthless reasonably diverse, and there is a good selection of inline speedskates, quad rollerskates and ice skates. Rentals are available, and on a sunny summer weekend the small salesroom can be as tight as the inside of a sardine can.
    Despite the name, this store is part of the Blades chain and so has a similar pricing structure. However, it has been around longer than the rest of the Blades stores and is more of a "skater's store", meaning that the staff seems a little more knowledgeable, a little more helpful, etc. In particular, this means that the staff has few more clues on hand when discussing speedskates, quad skates and ice skates.

Powers Court
132-1/2 West 24th St., 212-691-3888

Princeton Ski Shop
21 East 22nd St. at Broadway, 212-228-4400
http://www.allskis.com

The Sports Authority
Seventh Ave. at 33rd St. across from Madison Square Garden, 212-563-7195 -- 51st St. and Third Ave., 212-355-9725 -- 57th St. at Sixth Ave., 212-355-6430
http://www.thesportsauthority.com
    The Seventh Ave. locale is a huge sporting goods store which happens to also carry several different brands of inline skates. The selection runs from really cheap crud up to mid-line models, plus maybe a few top-of-the-line skates. Prices on what they do have generally look pretty good. Skates have finally all been collected along one long aisle, but the (roller)hockey gear is located about 50-75 feet away.

Scandinavian Ski & Sport Shop
40 W 57th St, T 212-757-8524, F 212-586-1303, www.skishop.com, map

Starting Line
180 Eighth Ave. at 19th St., 212-691-4729

Toys "R" Us
Herald Square, 1293 Broadway at 33rd St., 212-594-8697 -- 24-30 Union Square, 212-674-8697
Limited selection of Roller Derby and other cheap inline skates for kids, plus lots of brightly colored armor popular with that age group. Slalom cones can be found amidst the soccer balls and footballs.

Urban Athletics
225 Liberty St., 212-570-6069

Urban Footwear
351 Sixth Ave., 212-243-5557

Source for the above Manhattan shops: "The New York City Inline Skating Guide". That page did not show correctly in my browser, but the cache gave me the code... www.skatecity.com/nyc/merchants/manhattan.html

Other Shops in Cambridge, Boston and NY state come here:

MA	Boston	349A Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02115
MA	Cambridge	38 JFK Blvd., Cambridge, MA 02138
MA	Natick	42 Worcester St.,, RL 9, Natick, MA 01760

NY	New York		1414 Second Ave., New York, NY 10021
NY	New York		917 Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10019
NY	New York	212-535-7473	1623 York Avenue, New York, NY 10028
NY	Carleplace	516-873-8874	223 Glen Cove Rd., Carleplace, NY 11514
NY	New York		160 E. 86th St., New York, NY 10023
NY	New York		659 Broadway, New York, NY 10012
NY	New York		Pier 62, New York, NY 10011
NY	Valley Stream	516-568-0136	95 East Merrick Rd., Valley Stream, NY 11580
NY	New York	212-787-3911	120 West 72nd Street, New York, NY 10023
NY	New York		901 6th Avenue, New York, NY 10001
NY	New York		128 Chambers St., New York, NY 10007
NY	Staten Island		2655 Richmond Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
NY	Town of Tonawanda	716-834-6595	1614 Niagra Falls Blvd., Town of Tonawanda, NY 14150
NY	Howard Beach	718-845-1800	160-08 Cross Bay Blvd., Howard Beach, NY 11414
NY	New York		Chelsea Piers, Pier 61, New York, NY 10011
NY	Amityville	516-901-0466	29 buchanen Ave., Amityville, NY 11701
NY	Hopewell Junction	914-226-7825	532A Route 82, Hopewell Junction, NY 12533
NY	Oceanside	516-678-7900	46 Atlantic Ave., Oceanside, NY 11572
NY	Ridgewood	718-381-1996	65-07 Fresh Pond Rd., Ridgewood, NY 11385
NY	Old Bethpage	516-249-1717	182 Bethpage Sweet Hollow Rd., Old Bethpage, NY 11804
NY	Rocky Point	516-744-5555	89 Route 25A, Rocky Point, NY 11778

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