Summer in New York is rooftop season. It may come as no surprise that the city with the world-famous skyline offers more opportunities than in almost any other metropolis to drink your “Manhattan” with a view of Manhattan. But rooftop bars are actually more than a great way to throw money off the roof (that too, of course): They combine what makes New York so exhausting with what makes New York a fascinating place.
Exhausting, because you first have to get a seat with a panoramic view. Often people say down at the elevator: “Sorry, we’re booked out.” It is advisable to make a reservation, but it is not possible everywhere. In New York, too, the following applies above the clouds: only the fastest survive. Yet some tourists already experience an urban culture shock at the foot of the high rises. The streams of people move inexorably through the skyscraper canyons, there is always a new destination: the next meeting, the next yoga class, the next organic supermarket. If you just want to stop to take a look at the city guide (and process the excess of impressions), you will quickly have an elbow in your side. Ohio native author Nathan Pyle has turned his painful experience into an etiquette bestseller. In it he writes: “Welcome to New York, where the object of the game is … Stay out of everyone’s way!”
That might sound impolite at first glance, but at the end of the day, all New Yorkers – natives and newcomers – have the same goal in summer: the rooftop bar. In this respect, the working urban population is forgiven for their rabid pragmatism. The bumpers want to work off their everyday agenda as quickly as possible in order to be able to take off. There is nothing more sublime, and yes: more sublime, than watching the sun go down behind the skyscrapers of Manhattan from a roof terrace. New York is never so far and at the same time so close as from above. On the right roof terrace your heart will hurt in the best way.
New York’s Best Rooftop Bars for Summer 2017:
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