August 27, 2008
High in the Sky: Empire Hotel's rooftop cocktail bar
NewYorkology contributor Vidiot commits journalism by night, edits Cocktailians and explores NYC by day. He’s especially interested in the infrastructure, transit, architectural wonders, drinking establishments, and hidden corners of the greatest city in the world.
Rooftop bars are the new black in New York drinking, and another relatively new offering is the Jeffrey Chodorow-backed Empire Hotel Rooftop, which opened in early June.
 When NewYorkology visited on a recent Thursday evening, the place was hopping. The line stretched through the lobby, behind a velvet rope, and out to the sidewalk. I waited for eight minutes (but my friend who joined me arrived about twenty minutes after I did and wound up waiting for half an hour) and watched some VIPs being waved right to the front of the line. After a cramped elevator ride up to the 12th floor, we arrived in a spacious room filled with a stylish crowd.
A large bar anchored the room, with two big terraces leading off to the sides. One terrace is the designated smokers’ section, while the other offers more seating, huge potted ferns, a retractable roof, and another bar. Loud-ish, well-chosen R&B enhanced the after-work party atmosphere, and “Reserved” signs rested atop every table and banquette.
Despite the crowd, I was served very quickly at the bar. Bartender Anthony told me the most popular drink is the Black Cherry Cosmopolitan, but I opted for the Cucu Cocktail: Patron Anejo, Cointreau, cucumber, cilantro, and fresh lime juice. It was a well-balanced drink, spiky in that good-tequila kind of way. (Mojitos and vodka drinks also seemed very popular, such as the “Empiretini”: Bombay Sapphire and pomegranate juice) and all the cocktails on the menu were made with premium liquors such as Belvedere, Grey Goose, and Glenfiddich. Cocktails were $15 and $16, beers (Bud Light, Heineken, Corona) were $8, and Champagne was $14 and $21, depending on the brand. Food is available as well for $14 to $18, and skewed toward the decadent: the now-standard Kobe beef sliders, a foie gras PB&J, deviled eggs, a lobster roll.
The oh-so-fabulous crowd seemed more intent on drinking (and being seen) than eating, however. The manager of the bar told me that many celebrity events and private parties are held there — he mentioned Will Smith and P. Diddy — and said that sometimes the rooftop is open to the public during these events. The crowd is a young-ish one, most in their 20s or early 30s, with a few outliers. The manager said that they don’t get too many tourists, and are aiming for a “more refined clientele.”
You can get into the inner sanctum — the upper level of the rooftop, with a plunge pool and private bar — only if you book a room at the Empire; it’s reserved for hotel guests.
The Empire Rooftop
12th floor of 44 W. 63rd St., map
(212) 956-3313
Picture credits: Vidiot.
Earlier: High in the Sky cocktails at Roosevelt Hotel’s mad46
High in the Sky at Peninsula hotel’s new Salon de Ning
August 27, 2008 1:21 PM in Architecture, Drinkology, Hotelology, Sightsology, Upper West Side
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