Photos: Skaters at DiscOasis Roller Disco in Central Park

Photo: DeSean McClinton-Holland

Alexander Paris (pictured)
Artist and witch, Bushwick

What brought you to the rink?
I had a performance at the Armory. Afterward, I smoked a joint with a friend and then got paranoid, so I got off the train and went to Central Park. I heard “I Feel Love,” by Donna Summer, and I looked up and saw a neon sign with big disco balls, and it said “DiscOasis.” I remembered that my friend messaged me earlier asking if I could come. Then the Queens remix of Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul” started playing, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I got a ticket and skates even though it was $60.

Was it worth the price?
Once I got inside, I was like, Oh God, I can’t even afford a locker. I begged the people working, and they let me hide my stuff somewhere. But I don’t regret it. I nailed my performance and got an email from artist Karen Finley that was like, “You’re a dreamboat and a star.” So I wanted to treat myself.

And you’re also a witch?
I come from a long line of witches. My mom was a witch. My grandma was a Vodou priestess. I don’t cast spells, but I’m a master manifester. When I dream of something happening, it ends up working out.

Ashley Newenle

Sales associate, Hell’s Kitchen

Jeremy Ecock

Engineer, Old Bridge, New Jersey

Linda Rappaport

Real-estate broker, Floral Park

Did you come by yourself?

I was supposed to go with a group that ended up canceling. I said, “You know what? I’m just going to go,” and drove right to Central Park in this crazy outfit. Do I sound like a loser? Or do I sound gutsy, like a New York woman who would go by herself anywhere?

Troy Landry

DiscOasis performer, Prospect–Lefferts Gardens

Caroline Pace

Production secretary, Park Slope

What made you want to come tonight?

I love disco. I literally have a disco-ball tattoo that I got in Amsterdam. There are a lot of reasons and memories attached to it, which, now that I’m thinking about it, that’s what disco balls do: They reflect light in so many different ways.

Izaesha Norman

Paraprofessional, Crown Heights

Chasi Annexy

Freelance photographer, Brooklyn Heights

Ashley Cruz

Chiropractor, Park Slope

How was your night?

I’m here for a birthday. First we had a few drinks to loosen up. Then we started skating and we fell and fell. My friends made a Reel that’s basically a compilation of all of us falling.

Jason Acosta

DiscOasis performer, Bushwick

Sydney Blaylock

DiscOasis performer, Bedford-Stuyvesant

Jillian Lucero

Creative-production coordinator, East Harlem

Where’d you get your outfit?

Mostly from Buffalo Exchange. My headwrap is actually a tankini top. I found the bell-bottoms in the Pride section, and they’re technically assless. I was like, Can’t do that, so I wore black leggings over them and then added a wraparound skirt to give it more glitzy glam.

Sarah Corbett

Human-resources partner, Brooklyn Heights

Lynna Davis

DiscOasis performer, Hell’s Kitchen

What brought you to the rink?

Nile invited me. We were in a band when we were teenagers. When I saw signs for DiscOasis in Los Angeles, I called him and said, “We don’t have any rinks in Manhattan. What are you doing in L.A.?”

Jocelyn Marie Goode

Roller-skate-museum founder, East Harlem

Nicholas Brown

Fitness instructor, Harlem

Daniela Leguisamo

Social-media marketer, Jackson Heights

Onni “Oxenfree” Adams

DiscOasis performer, East New York

Do you have a signature move?

I do this thing called an Oxenfree Matrix. It’s like a backbend all the way back, like in The Matrix, and then I come back up. It’s the move people know me for — basically playing limbo on skates.

Sebeey Chi

DiscOasis performer, Washington Heights

Photographs by DeSean McClinton-Holland