“Empire Skate: The Birthplace of Roller Disco” Exhibition

The City Reliquary

This event has ended.

The Empire roller skating rink was a landmark in Brooklyn from the time it opened its doors in 1941 to its closing day in 2007, as New York City’s last indoor roller rink. Converted from the old Ebbets Field parking garage, Empire was famous as the birthplace of the “Brooklyn Bounce” which would inform the mainstream skate culture and jumpstart the roller disco craze of the 70s and 80s. Locally, it was known as the place where New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds could come together; where grandparents showed grandchildren their favorite moves and former gang members and Hasidic Jews skated side by side.