NYIGF Welcomes Ice Dancing Olympian to Winter 2011 Market
White Plains, NY – Ryan O’Meara, a former ice dancer who competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics, will make an exclusive on-ice performance during the winter 2011 New York Market. In addition, and through the cooperation of the New York International Gift Fair®(NYIGF®), 7 West 34th Street, 41 Madison and 230 Fifth Avenue, market participants can enjoy VIP FastPass admission and free skate rental at Citi PondSM at Bryant Park throughout Market Week (January 28-February 3, 2011).
O’Meara, currently a home products retailer and interior designer, will perform with partner Emily Nussear on Saturday, January 29, at Citi PondSM at Bryant Park. Following a brief performance at 6:30pm, market-goers can join the pair on the ice until 8:30pm.
O’Meara competed in the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, placing 16th overall. He also won medals at the 2005 U.S. Championships, the 2005 Four Continents Championships and the 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
“We have an Olympian within our industry, and we’re thrilled that he will perform in New York City during his visit to the market,” said Dorothy Belshaw, NYIGF director and GLM senior vice president. “Ryan’s appearance, as well as Market Week access to the skating rink in Bryant Park, is another exclusive ‘Only in New York ‘ experience that the New York Market offers its participants.”
Following O’Meara’s retirement from competitive ice skating, he embarked on a career as interior designer and custom furniture retailer. His Scottsdale, Arizona-based design firm, Palavela Home – named after the Olympic figure skating venue where he competed in 2006 – is an 8,000 square foot showroom carrying furniture, accessories and gifts, as well as an extensive library of fabrics for custom design projects. Information is available online at: http://www.palavelahome.com.
Actively involved in several charitable organizations, O’Meara produces the “Winter Enchantment” event, which raises money through the use of Scottsdale’s only outdoor skating rink. Installed outside Palavela Home, the 30×40 square foot skating rink is made of synthetic ice. O’Meara and other local ice skaters also perform on the rink through the month of December to raise funds for various local charities.
Located in the center of Bryant Park on 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, Citi PondSM is a 170′ x 100′ rink featuring free admission ice skating, with high quality rental skates. Celsius, a two-story restaurant which overlooks the rink, offers lunch, dinner and drinks in its glass-enclosed lounges and outdoor terrace with heat lamps. Citi PondSM opens at 8am daily through February 27, with skating until 10pm Sunday through Thursday, and until Midnight on Friday and Saturday. www.CitiPondatBryantPark.com
The winter 2011 New York Market runs Friday, January 28, through Thursday, February 3, at locations throughout New York City . 7 West opens on Friday, January 28; and NYIGF (at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and Passenger Ship Terminal Piers 92 & 94), 41 Madison and 230 Fifth Avenue open Saturday, January 29.
NYIGF is the nation’s premier gift, home and lifestyle marketplace, with 2,800 exhibiting companies featuring an extraordinary breadth and depth of design-driven home fashion products and complementary giftware. Some 35,000 attendees from all 50 states and more than 85 countries worldwide are expected. Information and registration is available online at www.nyigf.com.
