Spots: Midtown Manhattan — Theater District / Times Square Area

Spot: Alongside the northern end of the UBS Building is a seemingly nonsensical bunch of benches, that happen to be some of the finer ledges in Midtown. The benches vary in their overall approachability, given that some will occasionally end right when another starts, but overall, there are about five that are readily skateable. Some are more worn down than others, and there are gaps in the marble that have slowly eroded over the years, so certain benches are less desirable than others for one-truck tricks like crooked grinds and smith grinds, but otherwise, the spot is ideal, right down to the smooth, marble floor. (Be careful though, it gets extra slippery during winter months once it absorbs a share of rock-salt from the first few snows.)

It should be noted that this is not exactly the best-lit spot in Midtown, despite the fact it is right on Sixth Avenue. The lighting situation does improve during the holiday season though, as the building installs massive amounts of Christmas lights on all of the trees, making it one of the more desirable Midtown locations to stop at in late-November / December.

Bust — ♦♦♦♦ / Very Likely: There are typically guards posted up outside the building at any given time of night (yes, that means you can get kicked out within sixty seconds at four in the morning, it has happened), but oftentimes, it is only one guard, and he may be situated at the southern or western end of the building, where you are not within sight. Realistically, anything over fifteen minutes of time here should be considered lucky. When you’re not getting kicked out, there is an additional hassle in the fact that tourists often sit on the benches, even late at night, to eat Halal food from nearby carts. The spot is also popular with homeless people, so don’t be surprised if you show up to find some guy and a bag of cans taking up two out of the five benches you wanted to skate. Weekdays are completely out of the question.

Location: 52nd Street and Sixth Avenue. Take the B, D, F, or V to 47th Street–Rockerfeller Center, and skate north on Sixth Avenue for several blocks. The spot is on the western side of Sixth Avenue.

Pictures (Click to Enlarge):