As if the High Line weren’t already unique, it’s now the only park in the world sitting on top of a roller rink.
A temporary, 120- by 60-foot concrete rink opened to skaters yesterday directly below the elevated park at 10th Avenue and West 30th Street, which is normally a parking lot.
For $12 — $10 for children — skaters can run circles around the rink all day long in retro brown rental skates with bright-orange laces.
“I used to roller-skate in the ’80s from the sixth to eighth grade,” said Janette McGilligan, 42, one of the first skaters to take a spin. “Skating inspires people. It’s clean, good, fun exercise. It’s social. It’s inspiration — free self-expression, and I call it the secret fountain of youth.”
The popular park hardly seems to need a gimmicky new attraction, but Robert Hammond, a co-founder of the nonprofit Friends of the High Line, said that’s precisely the point.
“The High Line is unique and unusual, so things we try to do there are unique and unusual,” he said. “It’s surprising to have a roller-skating rink at Tenth Avenue and 30th Street — something not expected.”
Sponsored by Japanese clothing chain UNIQLO, the rink will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and in the evenings will offer bar service.
If the skates seem like the same crusty old ones a person might have worn decades ago, it’s because they were provided by the Roxy, the historic Chelsea rink that shut in 2007.
Skaters said the new rink was a thrill.
“I’m having an awesome time,” said Atara Neuer, 31. “I’m sweating my brains out, but it hasn’t stopped me.”
jeremy.olshan@nypost.com