“It’s definitely amazing being in the room with these incredible people who make you want to skate every day,” said Adrianna Walker, one of the girls featured in “Harlem Ice,” a five-part docu-series about Figure Skating in Harlem (FSH) that premiered earlier this year. “FSH has enhanced my skating a lot, just being around the sisterhood and the program.”
Among the attendees at this year’s FSH gala were the U.S. skaters who in March won gold medals at the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships: Ilia Malinin, Alysa Liu, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates. Olympians Emily Hughes, Alexa Knierim, Paul Wylie, Suna Murray, JoJo Starbuck, and Bradie Tennell were also in attendance. The evening solidified FSH’s push to raise the funds necessary to build its own indoor, year-round skating rink and learning center in Harlem.
In recent years, FSH alumnae have attended the gala and shared how the program impacted their lives. “I came back as a volunteer ice skating coach last year,” said alumna Kaylyn Abdul Jabar, now a clinical research coordinator and currently applying to medical school. “It’s amazing to see how some of my sisters in the program have grown and become educators in the program. I’m really seeing that impact.”
For professional dancer, performing artist, current FSH skating coach and alumna Eliyah McKayle, FSH fueled her creativity. “I grew into myself as a leader in FSH,” said McKayle, who recently choreographed for a dance company. “I love working with the kids … and giving back in that way. I see myself in the girls.”
Graduating senior Zayda Rojas will be attending Marist University this fall. She looks back at her time in FSH with deep gratitude, emphasizing the impact of FSH’s 2023 trip to South Africa. “Being a woman of color in America and being able to go to the motherland where the ancestors have been … was something I wanted to accomplish. To do that with FSH was pretty amazing,” Rojas said.
Adriana Diaz, co-host of CBS Mornings Plus, served as master of ceremonies. The honorees included Vladimir Duthiers, featured host of CBS Mornings, whose co-workers, including Gayle King, came to cheer him on. Other award recipients were Candace and Bruce Matthews and Bloomberg Philanthropies/Erana Stennett, whose support for FSH goes back decades.