Keeping this list in mind will guarantee a good summer.
Adding some twinkling lights, delicious cocktails, and amazing views can create magic anywhere on the rooftop. As New York City’s rooftops continue to upgrade their street cred, they offer refreshing drinks (pea-flower-infused vodka, anyone?) globally inspired snacks and intimate surroundings that complement and enhance the city’s spectacular skyline instead of detracting from it. Anyone would feel like they were a part of the empire. Head to one of these favorites as soon as the warm weather arrives.
The Crown
In the spring, Hotel 50 Bowery’s 21st floor revamped The Crown (pictured above), which channels a bohemian vibe and its carefree lifestyle. While sipping cocktails such as Resting Peach Face and soaking up the unobstructed views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines from the Brooklyn Bridge to One World Trade, don’t even think about checking your email. There are two outdoor terraces as well as a plush indoor bar with floor-to-ceiling windows if it becomes too crowded.
Loopy Doopy
Loopy Doopy is a stylish and sleek bar on the 16th floor of the classy Conrad New York, despite its silly name. You can take in the sunset at Loopy Doopy after work, and you can also choose a fruity pop (also made with alcohol) to dunk in the bubbly base (Prosecco or rosécco). Get Down, is a refreshing drink made with Absolut Elyx, strawberry, lime, and ginger beer that can be shared with a group. Light snacks are now available at the bar, which was previously a drinks-only venue.
Mondrian Terrace
Located within the boutique hotel Mondrian Park Avenue, the Mondrian Terrace offers a relaxed view of New York’s NoMad neighborhood overlooking Park Avenue and 30th Street. With a bottle of wine and charcuterie board, you’ll want to stay for days on the 15th floor with casual outdoor seating. Starting May 17, the space will transform into Rosé Terrace, featuring a themed drink menu and Instagrammable backdrops inspired by the highly sippable pink drink.
The Pool Bar & Observation Deck
It’s about to take off on May 15, when this one-of-a-kind space opens. Featuring an infinity pool measuring 63 by 20 feet (and heated to a balmy 100 degrees in winter), The Pool Bar & Observation Deck will open at the John F. Kennedy International Airport’s new 512-room TWA Hotel this month. While sipping a Mile High Spritz, you can watch planes come and go on the nation’s fifth-busiest runways. Staycations are popular even for New Yorkers, but non-hotel guests can make reservations online if they want to go to the bar.
St. Cloud Rooftop
The St. Cloud Rooftop at the landmark Knickerbocker Hotel on 42nd Street and Broadway lets you see Times Square from a different perspective, even if you avoid it at all costs. The cocktails here are classics (a dirty martini is a good choice). With smoke options paired with whatever you’re sipping, cigar aficionados will appreciate the new rooftop cigar lounge curated in partnership with Club Macanudo experts. At the Knickerbocker Hotel, the St. Cloud Rooftop. Photo: Courtesy of the Knickerbocker Hotel
Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge
Its carnival theme skews provocative over cheesy at Magic Hour, on the 18th floor of Moxy NYC Times Square. With its retractable roof and two main areas, it’s one of the most expansive rooftops in the city. To the east, it overlooks the Empire State Building, while to the west it’s a hub for entertainment. An affordable cocktail like Doctors Orders (with two 10-ounce boozy “IV bags”) and a miniature golf course called Foreplay make a fun first date or outing.
Westlight
The William Vale hotel in Williamsburg offers expansive views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens from the vibrant Westlight restaurant, 22 stories high. In addition to snacking on global street food-inspired snacks like spicy coconut cashews and duck carnitas tacos, you’ll also be able to sip creative cocktails made with unusual ingredients if you’re staying at the hotel. There will be lawn games and lounge chairs on the 23rd floor of Turf Club this summer, perfect for savoring every last moment of lazy Sunday afternoons.
Summerly
New England coastal vibes come to Brooklyn with Summerly, a gorgeous rooftop terrace restaurant opening on the 10th floor of The Hoxton, Williamsburg. Head here if you don’t have the time to get to the beach this weekend: lobster rolls, wood-fired clam pizza, and surf-n-turf burgers are just a few of the sharable seafood favorites you can share. There are a lot of rosés on the drink menu, as rooftop bars usually do, but there is also a tequila-based watermelon Collins, a Negroni spritz, and an herbaceous Pimm’s cup
Gallow Green
With its whimsical secret garden escape, the McKittrick Hotel’s rooftop bar Gallow Green is equally surprising (and delightful). It is inspired by the unique theatrical experience Sleep No More downstairs, but is a completely different space—open year-round!—that changes as the seasons go on. Pea flower-infused vodka and potent plant-forward cocktails offer a fresh take on classic cocktails this summer. The 10-piece MK Groove Orchestra plays live music alongside Bloody Marys and Aperol Spritzes on Sunday brunch.
The Roof
Viceroy Central Park New York’s 29th-floor, indoor-outdoor space is designed with the aesthetic of a yacht: think ipe floors, brass details, and custom walnut-and-leather sofas. Those in search of small-batch spirits will find plenty to choose from at The Roof, while beer fans will find local brews like Captain Lawrence Brewing Co. on hand. The lounge is a sophisticated place to lounge any day of the week (it opens at 3 pm on weekdays, and 1 pm on weekends), but it is particularly relaxing after an afternoon of shopping in Manhattan.
Cantor Roof Garden Bar
Even though it’s not common for a world-renowned museum to have a rooftop bar, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s roof bar attracts visitors and New Yorkers alike. Though it’s only five stories up, Cantor Roof Garden Bar offers some of the best views of Central Park in the city. Poptails (spirit-infused house-made popsicles served in Prosecco), frozen Moscow Mules, and meaty lobster rolls are among the highlights of the new summer menu. At The Cantor through October, a steel-and-stone sculpture was created by Berlin-based artist Alicja Kwade in the spirit of The Met.
Harriet’s Rooftop & Lounge
With reclaimed and sustainable materials and a tranquil color palette, Harriet’s rooftop bar at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge continues to embody the hotel’s nature-driven design. Although this urban green oasis isn’t a place to drink all your worries away, the cocktail menu is meant to be enjoyed mindfully. Lively Brooklyn Juice’s wellness cocktails include Nature’s Selection (cucumber, coconut water, greens, Italian bergamot liqueur, and cucumber-mint vodka or gin).
