Perhaps I Will BowlMor(e)

With friends in town, the plan for the weekend was to break in our new and, I must say, stylish ice skates. But with temperatures hovering in the mid-20s and still colder wind chills, it was decided that an indoor activity was far more appealing than skating around an iced space sans any feeling whatsoever. So we headed over to Times Square’s Bowlmor Lanes.

As with most attractions in Times Square, Bowlmor Lanes is big, bright and loud. Located in the former New York Times building on West 44th Street, the 90,000-square-foot bowling alley -- although "alley" is really a misnomer -- boasts 45 lanes in seven New York-themed lounges. There's appropriately the Times Square lounge, another inspired by Central Park, and others for Chinatown -- where we bowled -- Art Deco, Prohibition and Pop, or the Andy Warhol room, allegedly the only lounge to have black bowling lanes in the world. The once subway-themed lounge -- complete with graffiti -- has since undergone a transformation to the Coney Island room, where you’ll find classic boardwalk games and live circus performers. I don't think it's open yet as they say photos are still to come. In addition, there's the Stadium Grill with a menu by celebrity chef David Burke and the Tribeca Loft Nightclub.

Now back to bowling. The shoes are of the traditional red, white and blue variety and custom-made. The Chinatown lounge boasted dragons on the wall and pagodas between the lanes as well as a gong reserved for those celebrating a spare or strike. You don't have to roam the alley for a bowling ball. Each pair of lanes has several, starting at 6 pounds, complete with pairs of different sized (small and medium, for example) finger holes on each ball. Each bowler has the option of bumpers as well as helpful tips on the score screen between throws on how to get that spare if your first attempt was meager at best.

As for the logistics, Bowlmor Lanes is open seven days a week, starting at 11 a.m. I've been hard-pressed to find prices on the Bowlmor Lanes website. But I can tell you from experience that on a Saturday, after 6 p.m., you start off paying $34.95 per lane per half-hour, plus $6.50 per shoe rental. Drinks, including beers for about $6 or $7 and signature cocktails for $12, and small plates are in addition and are settled separately from your bowling tab. You can see the laneside menu, with prices, here.

As I said, your bowling tab is determined on how long you play. Now here’s where I see some room for improvement. When we went to cash out at the end of our two games, we watched as the apparently understaffed desk took care of new arrivals and incoming phone calls before turning to us. Once we were helped, we asked if we had been paying all that time, which they said we had and kindly comped us 10 minutes. I think it might be a good idea in the future to have the staff behind the desk be organized into two groups: those who exclusively take care of incoming customers and those who exclusively take care of outgoing patrons.

All in all, it was a very fun time, where I traded in my Wii remote for a real bowling ball and some stylish shoes. I even got a spare, or maybe two, and can truly say Bowlmor Lanes will stay on my list of indoor activities to consider on cold New York days.

Bowlmor Lanes Times Square is located 222 West 44th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues.

Post and Photos by Krista K. Schmidt
Contributor to New York Insider