Empire State Plaza skaters love the ice

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stacey Lauren-Kennedy

The Empire State Plaza Ice Rink on Sunday.

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When Laura Maloney and Mike Chernoff were sitting at home Sunday watching the movie “Frozen,” the couple realized they wanted to do a little ice skating of their own.

The animated film about a princess with magical ice powers inspired them to break out their skates and take a trip to the Empire State Plaza ice rink.

“We were watching “Frozen” and that put us in the mood to ice skate,” said Chernoff, of Albany, who appeared to be in his 20s and was reluctant to admit he was watching a Disney film geared toward a younger audience.

Both Chernoff and Maloney said they are experienced ice skaters and try to skate as much as they can.

“We both really love it and today is a nice day for it,” said Maloney, of Loudonville. “It’s a little warm but that’s OK, I don’t mind.”

The ice appeared to be in poor shape due to the warm weather, which peaked at close to 50 degrees Sunday afternoon.

“It looks really bad and in some places its a little slippery because it’s so warm,” Maloney said. “But we are still having a great time.”

Jared Brandt of Albany said he used to love ice skating when he was in high school, but now he rarely has the time to find a rink or patch of solid ice.

“With a family and kids and stuff it is hard to find the time to do something like ice skate,” he said. “But it is a fun activity that, I’m realizing after being out here for 20 minutes, is also a pretty good workout.”

Judy Pawlick of Saratoga Springs and Karen Keis of Clifton Park were entertaining relatives from Minnesota and had planned to take a trip to New York City. But they heard reports of rain in the city and thought they should stay in the Capital Region and find something to do locally.

“New York City would have been fun but we are having a great time here,” Pawlick said. “It is a perfect day.”

Keis said they planned to go to the New York State Museum once they were finished ice skating.

“The day worked out quite well,” she said. “And we aren’t stuck in a car for six hours, instead we are outside enjoying ourselves.”

Ivo Wevneer of New York City and his two kids stopped in Albany on their way to a ski resort in the Adirondacks. The native of Brazil said he had never been ice skating before.

“We didn’t really have it as a kid growing up,” he said. “It is fun though, my kids are having a great time.”