NEW YORK CITY — Lezly Ziering was a man of many names. People affectionately called him “The Bionic Man,” “Destiny” and “Fred Astaire on Roller Skates,” to name a few, but he was most well-known as “The Skate Guru.”
Friends, family, and members of the city’s roller-skating community gathered Wednesday to remember Ziering, who died on July 16 at 82 years old.
Manhattan’s Hebrew Union College was a sea of purple as mourners flooded in by the dozens, dressed in Ziering’s favorite color.
Red and purple balloons floated in the basement as disco tunes played, a nod to the decades of music the roller-dance teacher skated through.
“This is exactly what Lezly wanted,” former student and performer Lynna Davis said of the celebration.
“He was just a lovely man, he just loved life. He loved everybody. He was always about fun, and dancing, and skating, just love and creativity and positivity.”
Ziering, a professional dancer who took his talents on wheels, founded the Central Park Dance Skaters Association and Brooklyn’s Crazy Legs Skate Club. He was known throughout the city’s skating rinks and nightclubs for his moves and expertise.
He established “The Lezly Dance & Skate School” in the 1970s and took the time to learn the names of each of his students, according to friends. He taught indoor and outdoor rollerskating, roller dance, along with ballet, jazz, tap, African, and Latin dance classes.
“It didn’t matter what race you were, if you loved to skate on quads — which is a spiritual expression of who we are — Lezly helped you do it,” said longtime friend Bob ‘DJ Big Bob’ Clayton, who spun tunes for Ziering.
“There was no better skater or dancer around than Lezly, and he gave his heart and soul to the skate world.”
Ziering was known for rolling on eight wheels throughout the five boroughs, including spots like Dreamland Arena, Sweet Ruby’s, and Metropolis.
He added acting, directing, writing, and set designing to his repertoire over the years, and the eccentic globetrotter was also known to speak backwards on occasion, friends added.
The “Skate Guru” met his wife, Robbin, while roller dancing at Central Park, and the two got married on skates.
“Even the rabbi was on skates,” Robbin Ziering said. “We had a wonderful marriage.”
"Skate Guru" Lezly Ziering's favorite color was purple, friends and family said. Attendees at his memorial on Wednesday dressed in purple in his memory. Photo credit: DNAinfo/Camille Bautista
When the famed Roxy closed in 2007 and the number of locations where one could lace up began to dwindle, Ziering opened Crazy Legs Skate Club in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
“That endurance he had — it was a really incredible time,” said friend Suzanne Maxx. “Lezly really stood for unconditional love. He was a leader of the movement.”
While tears flowed at Wednesday’s memorial, tributes served as a celebration of Ziering’s life, with jokes, songs, and dancing. Many attendees credited him with introducing them to their first pair of skates.
The roller dance legend passed away in his Manhattan home and was cremated shortly following his July 16 death.
Family and friends said they did not know the exact cause of death, but according to Robbin Ziering, he suffered from pneumonia.
His health declined after being sidelined by a skating accident in 2012 and through his career, he had undergone knee replacements, a hip replacement, and spinal surgery, friends said.
“No matter how many falls he had, he’d be right back on his skates,” Davis said. “It was like nothing could stop him. He was going to skate until the last time his wheels would roll.”
