A View from the Top: The best bars to elevate your evening

A View from the Top: The best bars to elevate your evening
By Perrie Samotin
Metromix.com

New York is a city obsessed with drinking sans ceiling, so it’s time to consider the alfresco options to get you through the summer. Since nothing beats the glamour of sky-high rooftops or the charm of sweeping balconies, we’ve highlighted a handful to heighten your open-air cocktail sensibilities.

Salon de Ning
700 Fifth Ave. at 55th St.
212-956-2888

Newly opened, this rooftop bar and lounge on the terrace of the Peninsula Hotel aims for an East-meets-West vibe. Offering panoramic views over Fifth Avenue and the Manhattan skyline, the lounge features an intimate interior bar with an eclectic art collection, and two large outdoor terraces with Chinese-style day beds. A range of signature cocktails and Asian-inspired small plates are also on hand.

Pooldeck
44 W. 63rd St. at Broadway
212-265-7400

With swimming, lounging, cocktails, massages and glittering city views, the brand new bi-level Pooldeck atop the UWS Empire Hotel is now open for business, though not necessarily yours. Hotel guests can take advantage of the spectacular, resort style space whose top level features the pool and a rows of lounge chairs, plus a lower level with a full bar and tech-ready cabanas.

Highbar
251 W. 48th St., between Broadway and 8th Ave.
212-956-1300

This swanky rooftop bar comes complete with striped seating, a backyard barbecue menu, jaunty house cocktails and private beds for lounging. The space can hold about 200 people outdoors and 75 in the lounge.

The Eagle
554 W. 28th St., between 10th and 11th avenues
646-473-1866

The newest version of this classic “Leather & Levi” bar has everything its predecessor did and more. It still
caters to a leather-loving, S&M-embracing gay crowd, to whom the phrase “check your clothes at the door” isn’t something completely absurd. The mood is gloriously dark and sleazy, and music pulsates furiously throughout the bi-level space peppered with pool tables and old motorcycles. And the beloved roof deck is a 2,000-square-foot, fully landscaped affair with a full bar, barbecued grub and scores of shirtless men.

Me’Bar
17 W. 32nd St., between Broadway and Fifth Avenue
212-290-2460

Found in bustling Koreatown, this under-appreciated bar on the 14th floor of the La Quinta Inn provides a basic approach to outdoor boozing: white picket fence, a smattering of rickety iron tables, potted plants and a wood-paneled floor. The space attracts its fair share of young commuters, but stick it out a little longer and the crowd often thins out. There’s also a very tiny, skylit indoor area with a handful of tables for those who prefer a roof overhead.

The Delancey
168 Delancey St. at Clinton St.
212-254-9920

Part rock club and part lounge, the interior is a fineenough place to grab a drink or see a show, but it’s the tropical rooftop retreat that really draws people in. Plentiful potted palms and intense, vibrant lighting give the roof a distinct Miami vibe, while a reflecting pond with frog fountains adds a Zen element.

Bookmarks
299 Madison Ave. at 41st St., 14th floor
212-983-4500

There’s something decidedly glamorous about the whole idea of cocktails on the terrace at sundown and Bookmarks — the rooftop lounge perched atop the Library Hotel — fits the bill with its stacks of classic books, greenhouse solarium and outdoor terrace. Test out the decadent specialty cocktails, such as the eponymous Bookmark: Appleton Estate Rum VX, Grand Marnier, passion fruit juice and Moet & Chandon.

230 Fifth
230 Fifth Ave., between 27th and 28th streets, penthouse
212-725-4300

This hands-down warmweather favorite sits atop an unassuming office building across from Madison Park. After steering past the lobby’s mirrored walls and Deco furnishings, head upstairs to the lush rooftop bar, a spacious palm-tree-lined terrace offering almost 360-degree views of the Midtown skyline. Pair a romli (spiced beef) slider with a golden dream martini (a $12 boozy creamsicle) while you marvel at your server’s ability to deliver flawless service in such high, high heels.