Everyone knows New York from the ground up: it’s a gritty, bustling place packed with traffic and the endless chattering of cars and police sirens. Yet from the top down, this urban jungle is transformed to an awesome spectacle with limitless perches that open up countless vistas onto the multitude of things abuzz below.
Needless to say, for every building in New York there’s a corresponding rooftop and many of these happen to be prime property for the city’s most exclusive and downright swanky bars and lounges. From hotel gardens that redefine the idea of “high society”, to open-air Brooklyn hangouts, Unlike traces some of the best rooftops to booze in a city where drinking is only legal when it’s done high and not exactly dry.
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Palm trees on its outdoor terrace and an equally plush, glitzy interior make 230 Fifth a must-see for anyone wishing to booze with an impressive backdrop of the Empire State Building. Opened year-round, be sure to come here during the quieter hours during the week or else find yourself waiting on a line that can stretch easily out onto Fifth Avenue.
Grab a smoke, PBR and schmooze about with the latest indie up-and-comers on the outdoor balcony of this Bushwick musical laboratory. While their drinks aren’t sold for much, visitors on even more restrictive budgets can take advantage of their BYOB policy.
What fun, indeed even joy, can be had spending a warm summer’s evening on the rooftop patio of this Williamsburg hangout. Take advantage of their chilled fruity, and formidable, punches while you view the stars or the traffic fly by above on the BQE.
Perhaps it stretches the idea of “rooftop” drinking a bit far, but the Staten Island Ferry presents one of the very few public places in the city where you’re allowed to drink. Better yet, you’ll be—quite literally—ferried around one of the most scenic spots in New York all to the tune of whatever’s in your brown paper bag.
A60—the exclusive rooftop bar on top of 60 Thompson—may be members-only, but getting a room at the hotel will guarantee entry. It’s wooden, intimate surroundings provide for romantic nights overlooking the best that Midtown and Downtown Manhattan have to offer, and that’s vertically-speaking of course.
Butler service comes standard at the English garden upon the summit of this anything-but-standard luxury hotel. Cocktails, champagne and light meals are served until 11pm for hotel guests as well as “select members of the neighborhood”, so don’t feel left out if you haven’t a room key or a high-rolling Upper East Side connection.
A doctorate isn’t required to get into Dream Downtown’s rooftop hotspot PH-D, but you might need to have attained one anyway in New York’s social scene. Boasting a nightly lineup of events and pulsating DJ tunes to match, PH-D attracts the cream of New Yorker high society and their A-list buddies as well. From Heidi Klum’s Halloween bashes to Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cameron Diaz exchanging smooches, you might read about last night’s party the moment you return to street level after a long night out here.
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