Best NYC Rooftop Bars in Cold or Rainy Weather

POSTED BY
Evelyn Kanter

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but in here it’s so delightful at these NYC rooftop bars where you can soak up skyline views and stay warm via tempered glass walls, roofs, space heaters, cozy blankets, even private igloos.

Go early enough to enjoy the sunset, and be prepared for cocktail prices that are lofty, too, around $15 each, or more.

It’s a good idea to call first to make sure the space is not off-limits because of a private event such as a birthday party or bachelor or bachelorette event.

In alphabetical order, because that’s the only fair way.

Note that we are including only affordable rooftop bars.

There are plenty of others with an admission price or drink price puts them well beyond the limits of NYC on the Cheap.

Copacabana

Best known as a dance club, many NYC visitors overlook the rooftop lounge, with its retractable glass roof and glittering view of Times Square.

The Copacabana is at 268 West 47th St., at Eighth Avenue.
UPDATE – The legendary Copa is closed, a victim of the Pandemic.

Gansevoort Park

Indoor and outdoor fireplaces, stunning views of the Empire State Building and midtown, and a creative drink menu are the stars of this three-level penthouse bar.

At 420 Park Avenue South. Hotel website.

Haven Oasis

This heated rooftop lounge has been turned into a scene out of 1,000 Arabian Nights for the winter, with belly dancers and huge Moroccan-style lounging pillows.

Atop the Sanctuary Hotel , 132 W. 47th St.

St. Cloud

On the corner of 42nd St. and Broadway, overlooking Times Square, this indoor-outdoor bar sits atop a 1906 office building that was turned into the luxury Knickerbocker Hotel.

There’s also a special cigar area here.

230 Fifth

That’s both the name and the address of this rooftop bar, atop an office building in Flatiron, which hands out fluffy red blankets if the heaters aren’t keeping you warm enough.

230 Fifth is on the rooftop of the 230 Fifth Avenue building.

Evelyn Kanter is a native New Yorker who has written for the NY Times, NY Daily News, NY Post, New York Magazine, and is a former on-air reporter for WCBS Newsradio 88 and WABC-TV Eyewitness News.