One of New York City’s most popular special event venues has been packed up and stored away until next year. Celsius at Citi Pond is a two-story ultra-modern indoor-outdoor restaurant and lounge that is a custom-designed, glass-enclosed structure that overlooks an ice rink and Bryant Park. Celsius features a heated outdoor terrace and a fully enclosed second floor dining room and event space that can accommodate groups of about 170.
Bryant Park ended the winter season with a record-breaking 4 million total visitors to the park and 150 events hosted in Celsius. Anchoring the venue is Citi Pond, New York City’s first and only free-admission ice skating rink. The 17,000 square-foot rink offers 360-degree viewing access. Besides free admission skating, The Pond offers the traditional kiosks, shopping, entertainment, and foods and beverages found in Europe’s famous Christkindlmarkts.
Upsilon Ventures, a project development, marketing, and production firm specializing in the innovative use of public spaces, is behind the project. It hopes to build similar attractions in other cities in the world.
Adding to the success of this project is the number of corporate sponsors it has gathered, which include Citi (the presenting sponsor), American Airlines, Columbia Sportswear, Canadian Tourism Commission, Kate Spade, Kodak, Clear Wireless, Coca-Cola, and Perugina.
“We create a little oasis in the middle of Manhattan every year,” says Sar Inbar, executive director of business development for Upsilon Ventures. “It’s centrally located in the vortex of New York. When you stand there you grasp the breadth of the entire landscape. The architecture that surrounds you is magnificent.”
Citi Pond is slated to reopen at the end of October and will remain open through February 2013.