{"id":56416,"date":"2025-11-30T17:10:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T17:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/56416\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T17:10:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T17:10:07","slug":"winter-at-the-plaza-series-in-albany-and-harlem-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/56416\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter at the Plaza Series in Albany and Harlem Announced"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York State Office of General Services (OGS) has announced the official schedule for the 2025-26 Winter at the Plaza season, including the opening of the ice rink at the Empire State Plaza in Albany and the annual tree lighting at the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building in Harlem.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery holiday season, Team OGS transforms the Empire State Plaza into a winter wonderland full of fun events and activities for the whole family. The Office of General Services is honored to host New York State\u2019s annual Winter at the Plaza series, which brings everyone from across the Capital Region and beyond together to enjoy the festivities,\u201d\u00a0Commissioner Jeanette Moy said. \u201cWe are proud to keep the long-standing tradition of New York State\u2019s Tree Lightings at the Empire State Plaza in Albany and the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building Plaza in Harlem alive. I want to thank all of our generous sponsors who work with us to make this time of year special.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Winter at the Plaza Schedule of Events in Albany and Harlem<\/p>\n

Empire State Plaza<\/a> Ice Rink Opening Day,\u00a0Friday, December 5, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.\u00a0The Plaza rink will play a significant role in a series of free events and activities planned for the season, which will kick off with the opening day at the Plaza ice rink on Friday, December 5, weather permitting, with teams from PYX 106 and 99.5 The River onsite from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. with music, games, and prizes to celebrate opening day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First Learn to Skate Clinic presented by Highmark Blue Shield\u00a0and hosted by the Hudson Mohawk Figure Skating Club, Saturday, December 6, 8 to 10 a.m. Learn to Skate clinics will run on the first Saturday of each month from December 2025 to March 2026. Online pre-registration is required at\u00a0empirestateplaza.ny.gov<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"WinterEmpire State Plaza Ice Rink opening night on Friday, November 30, 2018.<\/p>\n

New York State Holiday Tree Lighting presented by Highmark Blue Shield,\u00a0Sunday,\u00a0December 7, noon to 8 p.m. Celebrate the season with outdoor activities the family is sure to love, including an afternoon rock-and-skate featuring Erin Harkes Band, skating demonstrations by the Hudson Mohawk Figure Skating Club, performances by Holiday Tubas, caroling with The Rusty Pipes, ice sculpting demonstrations, and photo opportunities with Santa at Cornerstone at the Plaza. Refreshments will also be available for purchase at Cornerstone at the Plaza, and food vendors will be on-site. The official tree lighting and fireworks ceremony, hosted by the News 10 ABC Morning Team, will start at 5:15 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York State Visitor Center and Gift Shop Black Friday sale in-store on November 28 and online until December 1.\u00a0All items except CDTA and E-ZPass will be 25% off. Take a look at their inventory online at\u00a0nyscapitolstore.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Evening Capitol Tours for the Holidays,\u00a0starting Friday, December 5, the Office of General Services will offer free Capitol tours at 5:30 p.m.; reservations are recommended but not required. Tours will be offered on Fridays through December 26. During the Friday, December 12 tour, the Empire State Plaza Visitor Center and Gift Shop will host a holiday \u201cpop-up\u201d store in the Capitol lobby from 4 to 6 p.m. They will feature a selection of exclusive and limited-edition holiday ornaments and products available for purchase.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harlem Holiday Tree Lighting at the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building, Harlem, N.Y.,\u00a0Thursday, December 11, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.\u00a0Celebrate the season with outdoor activities for the whole family to enjoy. The event, hosted by the entertaining MC Bob Lee, includes train rides, a meet-and-greet with Santa, and photo opportunities. Enjoy complimentary hot beverages provided by Starbucks, and giveaways (while supplies last).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe annual Winter at the Plaza events are a great way to celebrate the season in the Capital Region, and the tree lighting in Harlem is always a popular community event. These are perfect opportunities for residents and visitors alike to enjoy holiday and seasonal cheer this winter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight<\/p>\n

Empire State Plaza Ice Rink Information<\/p>\n

Hours:\u00a010 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, weather permitting. Closed 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. weekdays and 12 to 1 p.m. and 3 to 4 p.m. on weekends and holiday breaks for maintenance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cost to Skate:\u00a0Free, while skate rentals are\u00a0$5 with a photo ID required to rent skates.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amenities:\u00a0Lockers, skate rentals, and refreshments are available in the glass pavilion adjacent to the rink. Children\u2019s helmets and ice walkers\/trainers for beginning skaters are also available free of charge.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Empire State Plaza rink status updates and additional information on Winter at the Plaza events and activities, including parking, directions, and ground rules, visit\u202fempirestateplaza.ny.gov<\/a>, @EmpireStatePlaza on Facebook, and @PlazaEvents on Instagram, or call (518) 474-4759. The public can text\u00a0ESPICE\u00a0to 888777 to opt in and receive ice rink closure messages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Winter at the Plaza series of events are presented with support from I LOVE NY and Coca-Cola.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York State Office of General Services (OGS) has announced the official schedule for the 2025-26 Winter at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[30602,30603,128,30604,1246,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-56416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-adam-clayton-powell","tag-adam-clayton-powell-jr-state-office-building","tag-bronx","tag-empire-state-plaza","tag-ice-skating","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}