Vintage Original 35mm Ektachrome Slide: Wollman Rink, Plaza Hotel & GM Building Construction
Location: Wollman Rink in Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, viewed toward the Central Park South and Fifth Avenue skyline.
Date: April 1966, based on mechanical date imprint on the slide mount.

Item Description
This lively Central Park scene shows Wollman Rink crowded with dozens of ice skaters wearing colorful mid-1960s coats, sweaters, skirts, slacks, hats, and figure-skating outfits. Skaters of different ages move across the ice while others gather near the rail, creating an unusually detailed record of New York recreation and fashion. The Plaza Hotel dominates the center background, while cranes and exposed structural steel at left show the General Motors Building rising on the former Savoy-Plaza Hotel site. An orange service truck, rink fencing, benches, loudspeakers, park paths, pedestrians, and leafless early-spring trees add extensive period detail.

Key Photographic Elements
Wollman Rink opened in 1950 after philanthropist Kate Wollman provided funding for a dependable refrigerated skating surface in Central Park. The rink was constructed over the northern arm of the Pond, and its traditional skating season extended from autumn through April, making this busy April 1966 scene consistent with the closing weeks of the winter season. The Plaza Hotel, completed in 1907, appears prominently above the rink; this photograph was processed only weeks before the May 1966 public hearing concerning the hotel’s proposed New York City landmark designation, which was formally granted in 1969. At left, construction of the General Motors Building records the Fifth Avenue skyline during a major transformation. The Savoy-Plaza Hotel had been demolished in 1965 to clear the site, and the modern GM Building was completed in 1968. The combination of crowded skating activity, colorful period clothing, the Plaza Hotel, Central Park, and active skyscraper construction gives the slide strong interest for collectors of New York City, ice skating, 1960s fashion, architectural history, and urban redevelopment.

Condition Report
The slide retains clear and readable detail throughout the skaters, clothing, rink equipment, Plaza Hotel, construction framework, and surrounding skyline. A mild cool-gray color cast, deeper shadows across portions of the park, and somewhat subdued contrast affect parts of the background. Scattered small dust specks and minor surface marks are visible, but there is no severe fading, heavy scratching, or significant blur. The dense crowd is naturally cropped along the lower edge, reinforcing the busy atmosphere of the rink. The original Ektachrome cardboard mount shows light age-related wear but remains intact and presentable.

 

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