Roll-A-Palace
{{Short description|Building in New York City}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Roll-A-Palace
| coordinates = {{Coord|40|35|7.5|N|73|57|7|W|type:landmark_region:US-NY|display=inline,title}}
| opened_date = 1977
| closing_date = Circa 1987
| address = 1728 Sheepshead Bay Road
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York
| location_country = United States
}}
The Roll-A-Palace Disco Skating Rink{{Cite book |last=Lawrence |first=Peter D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=99GnsmH6yhkC&q=%22roll-a-palace%22 |title=A Kids' New York |date=1982 |publisher=Avon |isbn=978-0-380-81315-5 |language=en}} was a roller disco rink{{Cite book |last=Miezitis |first=Vita |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k0ATAQAAIAAJ&q=roll-a-palace+sheepshead+bay |title=Night Dancin' |date=1980 |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=978-0-345-28649-9 |language=en}} established in 1977 in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, United States. Housed in a former movie theater, it reopened as a rink at 1728 Sheepshead Bay Road.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fj0tdFy5DlkC&q=roll-a-palace+sheepshead+bay |title=Israel |date=2001 |publisher=Fodor's Travel Publications |isbn=978-0-679-00610-7 |language=en}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cXXjAAAAMAAJ&q=roll-a-palace+sheepshead+bay |title=Fodor's New York City and State |date=1981 |publisher=D. McKay. |isbn=978-0-679-00610-7 |language=en}}
In 1979, Billboard and Cue magazines praised the rink, respectively describing it as "a typical example of the modern roller disco" and "the front-runner of the roller-disco craze".{{Cite magazine |date=1979 |title=What's Hot? What's Not? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ogkwAQAAIAAJ&q=%22you+will+find+the+front+-+runner+of+the+roller%22 |magazine=Cue: The Weekly Magazine of New York Life |publisher=Cue Publishing Company |language=en |quote=... the front - runner of the roller - disco craze , a fabulous $ 2 million roller disco in a former movie theater that has been earning its $ 4 ( including skates ) admission price for the past two years . Spic and span , it looks for all ...}} At its height, it had over 5,000 customers per weekend, with separate sessions for families, teens, and young adults.{{Cite magazine |last=Riedinger |first=Bob Jr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KyUEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22roll-a-palace%22&pg=PT56 |title=Going Back to the 1870s: Skating To Music |date=1979-03-03 |magazine=Billboard |pages=48, 57 |language=en}}
History
= Movie theater =
The Sheepshead Bay Century Circuit Theater opened on July 12, 1929. It featured a Kimball International theater organ and a Western Electric sound system.{{Cite web |title=Sheepshead Theatre in Brooklyn, NY |url=https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3446 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240909113217/https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3446 |archive-date=September 9, 2024 |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=cinematreasures.org}}
In 1930, Motion Picture News praised the theater as a "palace erected to the presentation of sound pictures".{{Cite magazine |magazine=Motion Picture News |url=https://archive.org/details/motionpic41moti/page/n374/mode/1up?view=theater |title=A Modernistic Trend Followed |date=February 1, 1930 |pages=39–41}} The building was designed by architect Thomas R. Short in what was then called a pronounced Modernist style, which was considered on-trend. It had an oval-shaped lounge featuring "the modernistic scheme with the French idea accentuated", designed for what it referred to as the "comforts of the woman patron". Construction was done by A. H. Schwartz of the Homack Construction Company; interior design by Wiliam Rau of Rau Studios Inc.; and furnishings by Teresa Jackson. It was built in what was then Sheepshead Bay's business district.
In 1943, the theater transferred ownership to movie theater chain Rugoff & Becker, becoming Sheepshead Theatre. In the late 1950s, it changed ownership again to Century Theatres, who operated the theater until its closure in 1970.
On May 3, 1977, New York's Board of Standards and Appeals approved the theater structure's enlargement and its "conversion into a skating rink with accessory uses".[https://www.nyc.gov/assets/bsa/downloads/pdf/decisions/87-12-BZII.pdf 87-12-BZ], NYC.gov. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250204160835/https://www.nyc.gov/assets/bsa/downloads/pdf/decisions/87-12-BZII.pdf Archive link].
"WHEREAS, the Board has exercised jurisdiction over the subject site since May 3, 1977 when, under BSA Cal. No. 854-76-BZ, the Board granted a variance to permit the area enlargement of an existing theater structure and its conversion into a skating rink with accessory uses; and WHEREAS, on May 5, 1987, under BSA Cal. No. 830-86-BZ, the Board granted a variance to permit the change in use of the premises from a skating rink (Use Group 12) to a physical culture establishment (Use Group 9) and a special permit for such use for a period of ten years, expiring May 5, 1997"
= Renovation and reopening =
After a million-dollar renovation of the Sheepshead Bay Century movie theater,{{Cite book |last=Phillips |first=Ann-Victoria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ppg26EYCWB8C&q=%22Sheepshead+Bay+Century+movie+theatre%22 |title=The Complete Book of Roller Skating |date=1979 |publisher=Workman Pub. |isbn=978-0-89480-067-2 |pages=38 |language=en |quote=... Roll - A - Palace was born two years ago , after a million - dollar renovation of the Sheepshead Bay Century movie theatre . All of Charlie's stu- dents agree that this rink is one of the nicest places to learn to skate in the area ...}} the establishment reopened as a roller skating venue in 1977. By the following year, they were known as a family-friendly establishment; a promotional item in New York read, "Roller Skating for the Family . . . No Dungarees".{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ZIpAQAAIAAJ&q=%22roll-a-palace%22 |title=New York |date=1978 |publisher=New York Magazine Company |pages=51 |language=en |quote=... Roll - A - Palace ( ROLLER SKATING FOR THE FAMILY . . . NO DUNGAREES ) , where kids practice their roller - disco moves . The green - painted girders of the Belt Parkway , a couple of blocks down Bay Road , are a gateway to the piers ...}}
Its admission price in 1979 was $4, including rentable skates. The rink featured a light and sound system; a snack bar with a 400-person capacity; and a separate dance floor area (possibly a sprung floor or illuminated dance floor).
= 1979 disco craze =
{{Multiple image
| image1 = Charles Aybar & Anna Galante Roller Disco.jpg
| image2 = Charles Aybar & Anna Galante.jpg
| caption_align = center
| width =
| caption1 =
| align = right
| footer = Disco skaters at the Roll-A-Palace, 1979
| total_width = 300
}}
The year 1979 was the height of popularity of the Roll-A-Palace. In 1979, Cue magazine praised the rink as "a fabulous $2 million roller disco in a former movie theater" and "the front-runner of the roller-disco craze".
Similarly, in that year's ranking of various roller discos, Cue described New York's Empire Roller Disco, the birthplace of roller disco,{{Cite web |date=2023-05-19 |title=The Legacy of NYC's Empire Roller Rink |url=https://www.untappedcities.com/empire-roller-rink-undiscarded/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250103175838/https://www.untappedcities.com/empire-roller-rink-undiscarded/ |archive-date=January 3, 2025 |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=Untapped New York |language=en}} as "not as snazzy as the Roll-A-Palace".{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ogkwAQAAIAAJ&q=Sheepshead+%22roll-a-palace%22 |title=Cue: The Weekly Magazine of New York Life |date=1979 |publisher=Cue Publishing Company |pages=19 |language=en}}
The same year, Billboard prominently featured Roll-A-Palace in its article "Going Back to the 1870s: Skating To Music". Billboard also claimed the rink's popularity was in part due to the proximity of Bensonhurst, which was the setting and filming location of 1977 drama film Saturday Night Fever.
In January 1979, Roll-A-Palace collaborated with WKTU (the nation's preeminent disco radio station) to promote a new song and dance titled the "Disco Dip".{{Cite news |title=Faster Than Sound |newspaper=Kalamazoo News |date=15 November 1979 |page=16 |url=https://digmichnews.cmich.edu/?a=d&d=KalamazooKN19791115-01.1.15&e=-------en-10--1--txt-txIN---------- |access-date=2025-01-02}} Written by Ed Chaplin, the song was widely considered the first song/dance written specifically to promote the roller disco hobby. It would also be "the first roller disco record played in a skating rink". Roll-A-Palace hosted the song's debut party, as well as a follow-up series of "'Disco Dip' nights to promote roller-disco".
However, the day before the first "Disco Dip" event, New Jersey musician Mark Winter premiered his song "Roller Palace", likely named for the establishment. Because the song's premiere preceded the "Disco Dip" by one day, it is likely the first roller disco-themed record, although it only received media coverage in October 1979.{{Cite magazine |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TCQEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22mark+winter%22+%22roller+palace%22&pg=PT71 |title=N.J. Label Claims 1st |date=October 6, 1979 |magazine=Billboard |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114154805/https://books.google.com/books?id=TCQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT71&dq=%22mark+winter%22+%22roller+palace%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiylcfAxvWKAxWGkYkEHVU8NicQ6AF6BAgFEAI#v=onepage&q=%22mark%20winter%22%20%22roller%20palace%22&f=false |archive-date=January 14, 2025}} Its lyrics humorously describe a "love on wheels" romance at a "disco, disco roller palace" where "everyone rocks as they roll".{{Cite news |date=15 November 1979 |title=Faster Than Sound |url=https://digmichnews.cmich.edu/?a=d&d=KalamazooKN19791115-01.1.15&e=-------en-10--1--txt-txIN---------- |access-date=2025-01-02 |newspaper=Kalamazoo News |page=16}}
Recalling the rink, one local reminisced in 2003,
I waited online {{Sic}} on Sheepshead Bay Road to get into this theatre as a kid. ... Once inside, the auditorium was gutted and there was a wood floor for skating. [The] DJ booth was up a ladder, probably where the projection booth once was. ... There was a horrible acoustic echo as the sound bounced all over.{{Cite web |title=Comments about Sheepshead Theatre in Brooklyn, NY - Cinema Treasures |url=https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3446/comments |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=cinematreasures.org}}In the 1979 Complete Book of Roller Skating, local roller skating students were said to agree that "this rink is one of the nicest places to learn to skate in the area".
= Later years =
There was a lawsuit involving the rink in 1983.{{cite web|url=https://casetext.com/cases/ny/nyappdiv/1983/3|title=Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York March 1983 cases|website=Casetext|access-date=2025-01-02}}
On May 5, 1987, New York's Board of Standards and Appeals granted a variance to approve the skating rink's conversion to a Jack LaLanne Health Club.{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Interior_Design_and_Decoration/J_pUAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=sheepshead+bay+%22jack+lalanne%22&dq=sheepshead+bay+%22jack+lalanne%22&printsec=frontcover |title=Interior Design and Decoration |date=July 1990 |publisher=Interior Design Division of Whitney Communications Corporation |volume=61 |page=157 |language=en |quote=Jack LaLanne Health Club , Sheepshead Bay |issue=13}}
= Successors =
By 1996,{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/West_s_Federal_Supplement/7DdLAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22bally%22+sheepshead+bay&dq=%22bally%22+sheepshead+bay&printsec=frontcover |title=West's Federal Supplement: Second series |date=2002 |publisher=West Group |pages=379 |language=en |quote=Brennan v. Bally Total Fitness - Cite as 198 F.Supp.2d 377 (S.D.N.Y. 2002) "See Brennan I...sexually harassed by her manager, Mike...who worked at Bally's Sheepshead Bay at the time of the meeting in 1998..."}}{{Cite web |title=Brennan v. Bally Total Fitness |url=https://casetext.com/case/brennan-v-bally-total-fitness |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240428091557/https://casetext.com/case/brennan-v-bally-total-fitness?__cf_chl_rt_tk=w0sRUd6P.MMTG66zhYphciYLPlwKZSlqBOxt8NQUx88-1714295757-0.0.1.1-1386 |archive-date=April 28, 2024 |quote=Brennan began working for Bally in January 1996.}} it was retitled Bally Total Fitness,{{Cite web |last=Zagare |first=Liena |date=2017-03-01 |title=History of Sheepshead Bay Road's Movie Theaters |url=https://bklyner.com/sheepshead-bay-road-movie-theaters/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250204153853/https://bklyner.com/sheepshead-bay-road-movie-theaters/ |archive-date=February 4, 2025 |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=Bklyner |publisher=Corner Media Inc. |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Bean |first=Bensonhurst |date=2014-02-11 |title=5 Gym Alternatives To The Steamy, Sweaty Mess At Sheepshead Bay's Bally Fitness |url=https://bklyner.com/5-gym-alternatives-to-the-steamy-sweaty-mess-at-sheepshead-bays-bally-fitness-sheepshead-bay/ |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=Bklyner |publisher=Corner Media, Inc. |language=en}} the conditions of which were later considered unfavorable by local community members. The gym became a 24 Hour Fitness after a corporate buyout in 2015.{{Cite web |date=2015-01-07 |title=Brooklyn's Bally Total Fitness Gyms Are Now 24 Hour Fitness |url=https://bklyner.com/brooklyns-bally-total-fitness-gyms-now-24-hour-fitness-bensonhurst/ |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=Bklyner |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Stromgren |first=Eric |last2=Producer |first2=Content |date=2015-07-08 |title=24 Hour Fitness Planning Grand Opening Celebrations at 12 Acquired Bally Total Fitness Clubs {{!}} American Spa |url=https://www.americanspa.com/commercial-clubs/24-hour-fitness-planning-grand-opening-celebrations-at-12-acquired-bally-total |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=www.americanspa.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Fitness |first=24 Hour |title=24 Hour Fitness Celebrates Grand Opening of 12 New York and New Jersey Locations |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/24-hour-fitness-celebrates-grand-opening-of-12-new-york-and-new-jersey-locations-300109437.html |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en}} Circa 2022, it became a Synergy Fitness, prior to closure in 2024.{{Cite web |title=Google Maps |url=https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5853837,-73.9515282,3a,48.9y,211.08h,89.16t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1st2iQ2C9trb5h5eUO36ujUA!2e0!5s20220701T000000!6shttps://streetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com/v1/thumbnail?cb_client=maps_sv.tactile&w=900&h=600&pitch=0.836348869767221&panoid=t2iQ2C9trb5h5eUO36ujUA&yaw=211.08057914267832!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDEyOS4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw== |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=Google Maps |language=en}}File:Sheepshead Theatre HDR 2022 jeh.jpg
Legacy and impact
The rink impacted the lives of several local DJs, who would go on to popularize house and electro music.
House DJ Frankie Bones has recalled the rink's influence on his life and career, stating he learned how to skate at the Roll-A-Palace as a child.{{Cite web |title=10 Mixes: A Guide to Frankie Bones |url=https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2015/05/ten-mixes-frankie-bones/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417102517/https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2015/05/ten-mixes-frankie-bones/ |archive-date=April 17, 2024 |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=daily.redbullmusicacademy.com |language=en}} In 2003, he wrote that he experienced the peak disco era (1979) through roller-skating.{{Cite web |title=Discogs Groups - Let's talk about some good Disco records that mean |url=https://www.discogs.com/group/thread/444221?srsltid=AfmBOopy-a-lsrQcYUxDN66cBlGoOL4RXLhxMLNvldTVDskQwjwh8-2J |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=Discogs}} On his first visit to Roll-A-Palace on May 11, 1978, he "came home and typed up a HOT 100 record chart", placing The Eruptions' cover of "I Can't Stand the Rain" at #1.
Similarly, Lenny Dee began his DJ career at the Roll-A-Palace circa 1985, at the age of 17.{{Cite web |title=Industrial Strength Records 20th Anniversary |url=https://nl.ra.co/events/286745 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250103150412/https://nl.ra.co/events/286745 |archive-date=January 3, 2025 |website=Resident Advisor |publisher=Resident Advisor Ltd. |quote="His [Dee's] 1st residency was at Brooklyn's roller disco Roll-A-Palace at 17 & he's played world-over at parties such as MayDay, Love Parade, Woodstock, Thunderdome & the Jane's Addiction Reunion tour."}}
Nearby rink RollerJam USA in Staten Island has hosted a reunion or reunion(s) for Roll-A-Palace skaters. RollerJam was considered the last remaining roller rink in NYC, prior to its 2024 closure.{{Cite web |last=Frishberg |first=Hannah |date=2024-05-08 |title=NYC's 'last remaining roller rink' closes after 17 years |url=https://nypost.com/2024/05/08/real-estate/nycs-last-remaining-roller-rink-closes-after-17-years/ |work=New York Post |access-date=2025-01-02 |language=en-US}}
See also
{{Portal|1970s
}}
- Roller Boogie (1979), a jukebox film released at the height of the roller skating craze
- Get Rollin' (1980), a docu-drama about disco rollerskaters in New York City