A striking rooftop option in east midtown, head to the top of the Pod 39 Hotel for their top-floor bar. It's less a roof bar than roofless, with gorgeous open-air colonnades and arches reaching up to an open sky.
145 East 39th Street, New York
Whether it's in a backyard, a patio, a rooftop, a garden, or a sidewalk, when the temperature's right in New York City, there's no better place to be than outside with a drink in your hand.
Here are some of Travel + Leisure's favorite spots to celebrate happy hour in the big city's version of the great outdoors.
Boat Basin Café
Order drinks at the bar for happy hour specials, but bring them outside to watch the sun lower the Hudson at this Upper West Side stalwart.
West 79th Street, New York
Chilo's
Since One Last Shag closed its beachy backyard, Chilo's patio picked up the slack. Head there for the taco truck parked out back, their three rotating varieties of frozen drinks, and their mysterious collection of doorknobs in the shape of Teddy Roosevelt's head.
323 Franklin Ave, Brooklyn
Forrest Point
An enormous open-air eatery on the Bushwick border, relax under their greenery-filled arbor for food, drinks, and shade.
970 Flushing Avenue, Brooklyn
Grand Banks
Docked at Pier 25 just west of Soho, this is a real boat that disembarks once the season turns. The next best thing to having your own boat, plan to go aboard on a sunny weekday afternoon: oyster specials run from 4-6PM Mondays through Thursday.
Pier 25 Play Area, New York
Hot Bird
When the weather's right, this cash-only auto repair shop-turned-bar will light up a cozy and crackling fire pit on the patio.
546 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn
June
A relaxed wine bar (and restaurant!), it's cozy back patio is strung with garden lights.
231 Court Street, New York
Lavender Lake
With a boisterous backyard right just up a block from the Gowanus, this bar is open and airy. Happy hour specials run till 8, and all day on Mondays.
383 Carroll Street, Brooklyn
Maison Premiere
With an outdoor space that looks like the secret garden, a $1 oyster happy hour, and cocktails that can't be beat (try the absinthe piña colada), it's no wonder this place draws crowds.
298 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn
Mulberry Project
A little oasis of calm in the middle of Little Italy, this speakeasy makes charming use of limited outdoor space. Follow the stairs down to the red door and through it out back.
149 Mulberry Street, New York
Nowadays
Queens is rich with beer gardens, and this Ridgewood spot is practically a small forest. Grab a picnic table with a colorful umbrella and relax in one of the greenest places to drink in all of New York City.
56-06 Cooper Avenue, Ridgewood
Pod 39 Rooftop
A striking rooftop option in east midtown, head to the top of the Pod 39 Hotel for their top-floor bar. It's less a roof bar than roofless, with gorgeous open-air colonnades and arches reaching up to an open sky.
145 East 39th Street, New York
Tatiana Grill
Try a taste of old Brighton Beach with this beachside Russian institution. Make sure you grab a seat on the boardwalk-fronting patio and watch the tide (or the people) go in and out.
3145 Brighton 4th Street, Brooklyn
