Cheers to rooftop season! New York heads skyward come June, when the weather is finally predictably pleasant, the sunset views are unparalleled, and the rosé and light bites flow freely atop some of the city’s chicest buildings. If you’re planning a meeting in the Big Apple during summer, you can’t not plan an evening reception on a rooftop. Take a look at our five current favorites for inspiration.
230 Fifth Rooftop Bar
Known as New York’s largest outdoor rooftop garden, 230 Fifth is located in the Flatiron district of Manhattan and is a favorite among locals and visitors alike year round. While the rooftop garden is open to the sky (and partially heated on cooler nights), the venue also features a fully enclosed penthouse lounge to allow events to take place here in any season. The entire 33,000-square-foot bar can accommodate up to 1,200 guests, though smaller groups are also easily accommodated in various spaces. All event rentals include Wi-Fi and AV equipment you may need for a meeting.
Le Bain
If you want to host a cocktail party or kickoff evening event that all attendees are sure to remember, plan it at Le Bain. This penthouse rooftop bar on the 18th floor of The Standard, High Line hotel—located in New York’s Meatpacking District, above a former elevated railroad that is now a public park—is the ultimate cool venue. It features a 35-foot bar, amazing city views, a seasonal plunge pool and a turf-covered rooftop, which can hold up to 250 for a reception-style event. If your group is of the party kind, the space also transforms into a discotheque thanks to a state-of-the-art sound system.
Gallow Green
Those who have been to the eccentric McKittrick Hotel, which is actually not a hotel but a five-story warehouse packed with eclectic interactive performances (such as illusionists), know they’re in for an equally unique experience at Gallow Green, its rooftop bar. Design to feel like a secret garden, the lush space is awash in plants and is only one of 31 total event spaces available in the venue. Share the history of McKittrick with your guests to create even more intrigue before your event: In 1939, it was intended to be New York’s finest luxury hotel; yet six weeks before opening and two days before World War II began, it was condemned and left permanently locked—until now.
A.R.T. SoHo
The 11th floor rooftop at the playful Arlo SoHo hotel features an outdoor terrace with incredible views of Freedom Tower as well as the Hudson River, making it an extra-special place to host a sunset reception. The bar area alone can accommodate up to 100 standing, while the terrace and bar combined can hold 150 guests. Refreshing cocktails dot the menu here, as do hearty snacks like mezze platters, flatbreads and some of the most delicious fries (served with three dipping sauces—spicy ranch, blue cheese and green goddess) in the city.
Summerly
The Hoxton, Williamsburg is one of the hottest new hotels in New York right now, and equally as trendy is its new rooftop bar, Summerly, opening for the season on May 15. With East Coast vibes, this is the closest you can get to a New England experience without living the city. Any event menu must include delectable lobster rolls, oysters and plenty of rosé, which are all aplenty here. Be sure to have frozen cosmopolitans and large-format cocktails on hand, too, which make for especially Instagrammable drinks set against the expansive skyline.
