Salon de Ning
photo: The Peninsula New York
Highbar
photo: Ryan Charles
It's tough to be stuck in the city for Memorial Day weekend when it feels like everyone else is skipping town. But if you check out these two hot new rooftop bars, you can log in some quality outdoor time and have something to brag about to your friends when they return.
An opulent reworking of the Peninsula Hotel’s former Pen-Top bar, ritzy rooftop Salon de Ning offers inspiring Midtown views from its two outdoor terraces and glass-enclosed bar, now redone with a new ‘Shanghai deco’ look (think lacquered screens and Chinese daybeds); of course, sky-high tabs come with the lofty territory (700 Fifth Ave., 23rd fl.; 212-956-1300).
Hell’s Kitchen’s latest rooftop (debuting tomorrow), Highbar, a sleek double-decker, is a Jetsons-meets-George-of-the-Jungle hybrid that mixes bamboo shoots, tropical plants and drop-dead Hudson River views with a media wall and a ‘UFO chair’; the venue will also include a glass-walled, air-conditioned lounge for indoor types and a downstairs den for VIPs (251 W. 48th St., 16th fl.; 212-956-1300).