The Broken Shaker

On our lists of the best rooftop bars and cocktail bars in New York.

Eighteen floors above Gramercy, at the top of the Freehand Hotel, two indoor bars open onto matching outdoor terraces with retractable roofs and a clear view of the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. Chefs Jeremiah Stone and Fabian von Hauske run a Latin-leaning kitchen of ceviche, skewers and a jerk chicken sandwich until 9pm, after which it's cocktails only. The room reads less like a hotel bar and more like a beach-house party someone let you into: leather couches, greenery spilling over the railings, reggae on the speakers. On warm evenings it fills fast, and the elevator line can run long before you're even inside.