Add to that the occasional efforts to clean up the park, which include ticketing skaters amongst such other activities as rousting the marijuana dealers. So, if you can find a time when pedestrian traffic is minimal, this would be a great place for newbies to do some learning. The quality of the neighborhoods near Tompkins Square Park has had a mixed reputation, varying block to block, but in the 1990s it became progressively more gentrified. Today, the biggest problem is probably the large number of nightclubs in the area, especially to the west, which means pretty high traffic density on narrow and not well-lit streets. This park stretches from Jackson St. south of the Williamsburg Bridge up to 15th St. and has a riverside promenade the whole way.
Large cracks are numerous and small sinkholes lie seemingly everywhere, waiting for unwary skaters.
I've also heard some negative comments about park safety at night, but given the crummy skating conditions, I'd be more worried about breaking a leg than I would about being mugged. For uptown travel, Night skating in Times Square. Heading downtown, there is a bike lane which runs down Broadway from Columbus Circle to Union Square and another on Fifth Ave. Also, see the Hudson River Park section above for details about a bikepath along the westernmost edge Midtown. The Chelsea Piers , Roxy , and Rivergate skating rinks all lie between 14th and 59th Sts.