The skyline of New York City is famously stacked with skyscrapers that all but piece the heavens. Yet until recently, the chance to enjoy the view over a co*cktail was a relative rarity.
Welcome to the rooftop-bar renaissance.
We don’t know what took so long, but we’re savoring this moment, when New York’s rooftop bar scene is better than ever, with high-quality co*cktails being shaken and/or stirred up to go along with awe-inducing views of the sprawling metropolis below.
Here are the 14 best rooftop bars in New York City.
1. Ophelia, Midtown East
Best rooftop bar for art deco enthusiasts
Built in 1928 in what was once a women’s-only hotel, Ophelia is about as classic New York City as they come. Still in operation, the Beekman Tower hotel is now open to all. Art nouveau stylings; tall, ornate cathedral windows; and views of the east side Manhattan skyline from 26 floors above the street all make for an ideal venue for drinking a dirty martini, a Manhattan or one of the 14 signature co*cktails that are shaken up here nightly. And if all that doesn’t make you feel like you’re king of the hill, A-number one, then there’s this little fact: Frank Sinatra used to hang out here.
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2.Daintree, Midtown
Best rooftop bar for sipping a martini in the sky
Two blocks from and 30 floors aboveBryant Parksits Daintree, a sophisticated, plant-bedecked lounge (with indoor and outdoor seating options) that offers a range of creative signature co*cktails. These are potent enough that after a few you might squint at the Empire State Building and ask: is there a giant gorilla on that building?
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3. Jimmy, SoHo
Best year-round rooftop bar
Set 18 floors up at the ModernHaus SoHo hotel, Jimmy provides perfect views of the cast-iron-clad buildings that flank the cobblestone streets ofSoHo. Lounge on the outdoor terrace while sipping a refreshing Tequila Martini (Clase Azul Reposado, lime orange, olives) or a grilled-pineapple mojito. When it’s colder, head indoors, where leather furniture, a fireplace and list of warm co*cktails set an autumnal mood.
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4.Overstory, Financial District
Best rooftop bar for a pre- or post-dinner drink
Sixty-four floors up, Overstory is brought to you by the people who gave us Saga, the elegant restaurant one floor down, and Crown Shy, the elegant restaurant on the ground floor of this art-deco Manhattan skyscraper in the Financial District. Quaff an expertly made signature co*cktail (we love the Frenchie, with cognac, elderflower, pear and soda) or sip a classic libation (can you really resist a Manhattan here?) and enjoy watching the verve and the sparkle of the city below. Reserve in advance, however: Overstory made the top half of the 2023 list of best 50 bars...in the whole world.
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5. Skylark, Midtown West
Best rooftop bar for co*cktails that rival the view
With 360-degree views of surrounding skyscrapers plus a riot of dazzling colors across the Hudson River at sunset, theSkylark provides visual fireworks to go with a seasonal co*cktail menu of well-shaken potent drinks. The libations here are good enough to make you think the person handing it to you should be a hipster wearing old-timey suspenders and have a waxed mustache. From 30 floors up, the bi-level rooftop bar in Midtown is tastefully designed with art deco touches; a few semi-private nooks make it an ideal date spot.
6. The Ready, East Village
Best rooftop bar to feel like you’re at a backyard party
Located atop the Moxy in the East Village, this rooftop bar has a raucous vibe – as if you’ve just arrived, mid-party, at a friend’s backyard beer-laden bash. Well, if said friend happened to have a retractable roof and table-side coolers filled with cans of beer and bottles of wine. Should you feel like starting early, the happy-hour deal is a good one: $9 margaritas and $1 tacos Tuesday to Friday from 4 to 6pm and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3pm. If you want something more substantial, head downstairs to the hotel’s in-house eatery, Cathédrale.
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7. Terrace on 7, SoHo
Best rooftop bar for a Mexican-luau vibe
Located in the Dominick Hotel in west SoHo, this seventh-floor terrace bar often changes each year, starting in May. In recent years, it’s been El Ta’koy, a restaurant and lounge (with outposts in Chicago and London) that fuses ingredients from Mexico and Hawaii to create tantalizing pork-and-pineapple tacos and tuna-and-caviar taquitos, as well as plenty ofboozy, fruit-based concoctions to go with the views of SoHo.
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8.Azul Rooftop, SoHo
Best rooftop bar for Havana vibes
It’s like Havana-on-the-Hudson at Azul, a 200-seat, 20-story-high SoHo rooftop bar that’s bedecked with palm trees, reclaimed wood tables and teal accents where you can nurse mojitos, graze on a pork-loaded Cuban sandwich, and listen to Afro-Cuban jazz, mambo and rumba all night.
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9.The Crown, Chinatown
Best rooftop bar for Asian-inspired drinks and views of Chinatown
Atop the 50 Bowery hotel, this 21st-floor bar in Chinatown has an expansive roof deck with stunning views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges – the ideal spot for nibbling on excellent pastrami-stuffed steamed buns and veggie spring rolls in between sips from that Singapore Sling.
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10. RT60, Times Square
Best rooftop bar for rocking out with the views
The servers at this 34th-floor bar sport name tags that also include their favorite bad or musical artists. (An affinity for, say, Depeche Mode, Prince or Led Zeppelin is a definite conversation-starter.) So it’s no surprise that RT60 sits atop the Hard Rock Hotel near Times Square. You won’t find any rock-star memorabilia on the outdoor terrace – just views of the surrounding towers, plates of snacks like hummus and sliders and nicely made co*cktails. The in-house, Yankees-themed NYY Steak, while not on the roof, is a delicious place to retreat to when the stomach starts to rumble again.
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11.TWA Pool Bar, JFK Airport
Best rooftop bar for plane spotters
You’re free to move about the bar at this singular rooftop watering hole at the TWA Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport. As you watch the planes land and take off and try to guess where in the world the destination might be, sip on aviation-themed co*cktails like the Jet Fuel, the Vodka is My Co-Pilot and the Control Tour Sour. Just don’t fall into the bar’s infinity pool after imbibing too many (rum-based) Floatation Devices – otherwise, you may need a real-life one. Be sure to plan ahead as reservations (the cover charge for each non-hotel guest starts at $25) are required and book out far in advance.
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12.Night of Joy, Williamsburg
Best for drinking inventive co*cktails amid antiques
This charming, antique-loaded bar is only a few floors above the hipster-crammed streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn– but what it lacks in altitude it makes up for in ambiance. Take a seat on the leafy rooftop deck while sipping one of the many inventive co*cktails they make here – inventive concoctions heavy on botanical components and herbal infusions. (The menu changes regularly.) If that’s too fancy for you, the roof deck also has a frozen margarita machine.
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13.Bar Blondeau, Williamsburg
Best rooftop bar for gawking at the Manhattan skyline...without being in Manhattan
It’s only six floors up, yetBar Blondeau, atop the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, offers a stunning view of Manhattan from across the East River. The culinary team from nearby French-Canadian hit Chez Ma Tante took over the kitchen in 2021 and turned the space into a Gallic-leaning bar. With a view like this, the food doesn’t have to be that good – but it is here.
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14.Panorama Room, Roosevelt Island
The best rooftop bar on (and the best reason to go to) Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island attracts visitors for the fun cable car that floats between Second Avenue and E 59th St and the middle of the island. Many people get off, take a quick look around – then get right back on cable car to Manhattan. A few others may walk to the southern tip of the island to gawk at the 19th-century ruined hospital once used for quarantining smallpox sufferers or elegantFour Freedoms Park. But now there’s another, more cheery reason to come: the Panorama Room, located 18 floors atop the Graduate Hotel, lives up to its name with all-encompassing views of the east side of Manhattan, Queensand parts of Brooklyn. Its excellent food offerings marry low- and highbrow delights: think caviar nachos and truffle fries.
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This article was first published Jul 14, 2019 and updated May 16, 2024.
