New York's iconic Bryant Park ice rink mixes things up

Bryant Park's scenicly placed ice rink is mixing things up Photo / Supplied, Jane Kratochvil

Skaters and skyscrapers is one of New York's most enduring images of Christmas.

Whether it's on the original Rockefeller 1930s art deco rink or one of the scores of other outdoor rinks that spring up, skating is a symbol of the city. Even in the face ever warmer winters and ever slushier rinks.

Dodgems on ice. Photo / Supplied, Jane Kratochvil

Bryant Park might be one of New York's most scenically placed skating venues.

In Manhattan's Midtown pictures of happy skaters on the ice rink, surrounded by the Rockefeller building and New York's Empire State have become an annual Yule-tide trope.

However, this year the Winter Village is mixing things up. A section of the skating rink has been partitioned off for 'bumper cars'.

A hit: The ice bumper cars were popular last year. Photo / Supplied, Jane Kratochvil

These dodgems will be in place from January 17 to February 24 next year, giving visitors the chance to bump and slide into friends and strangers. Think of it as 'Midtown Madness on ice.

After their success last year the dodgems have been brought back by the Winter Village's sponsor Bank of America.

Bryant Park's Winter Village is rare open area in Manhattan's Midtown. Photo / Supplied, Jane Kratochvil

On the corner of 40th and 6th avenues, Bryant park is one of the rare islands of green in New York's concrete jungle.