Prospect Park's LeFrak Center reopens with pickleball — and no Lola Star roller nights

Prospect Park’s 12-year-old LeFrak Center at Lakeside has undergone its first major renovation since opening more than a decade ago. The revamped LeFrak, which officially opens Aug. 2, will feature refreshed restrooms, lighting and mechanicals and will offer pickleball and yoga.

But to many fans’ chagrin, it will no longer feature a weekly roller skating party called Dreamland Roller Disco, an 11-year-old program organized by Dianna Carlin, better known as Lola Star.

The disco nights became a Friday-night staple at the center and were known for themes like “Pretty in Pink Barbie Prom” or “Prince vs. Michael Jackson." They attracted a diverse array of colorfully costumed skaters from across the city.

The center's new operator, Ekstein Development Group, initially worked with Star to bring back the Dreamland programming, but the Prospect Park Alliance, which manages LeFrak, said they ultimately parted ways.

The alliance said in a statement it plans to continue hosting roller skating events from a variety of producers.

Star said she was devastated.

“A private corporation should not have the power to decide the fate of a beloved community program that has brought joy, connection and meaning to thousands of Brooklynites,” she wrote in an online petition to bring Dreamland programming back to the park, which currently has more than 1,100 signatures. “We believe there should be room for new and inclusive programming at LeFrak. But that should not come at the cost of displacing beloved, community-rooted weekly events like Dreamland Roller Disco.”

Star said the end of her LeFrak programming feels like part of a pattern of private developers destroying small, local enterprises. She lost her 20-year-old Coney Island boardwalk boutique in 2021.

Roller skating fans said they were heartbroken by the end of Dreamland’s tenure at LeFrak.

“My wife and I started skating at Dreamland during the 2015 season and honestly thought we would never have to say goodbye,” Scott Lindeman said.

Filmmaker William Tyler Smith, who went to Dreamland parties every weekend, said he's lost a weekly reunion of all the regulars he’s become friends with over the last decade.

“We’re all missing one another,” he said. “ We still see one another, but it's not the same. It's not reinforced every week.”

Smith said roller skating has become increasingly popular in the city, with Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 2 Roller Rink offering seasonal skating since 2014 and Bushwick’s Xanadu Roller Arts offering year-round skating since last year. But there are still limited options and none have had quite the same verve that Star brought, he said.

Another longtime regular, Jen Green, agreed.

“Lola had her own special magic that she brought to Dreamland,” Green said. “I do go to some other skate parties, but it's just not the same.”