Rooftop Bars in the Financial District: Where to Drink Above Lower Manhattan
By 17John ·
Quick answer
The Financial District's best rooftop drinking is at Overstory, a small cocktail bar on the 64th floor of 70 Pine Street with a wraparound terrace and 360-degree views. Hide Rooftop at 24 John Street is the closest one to us, on the 20th floor across the street. Manhatta sits 60 floors up at 28 Liberty Street if you want dinner with the view, and The Greens on The Rooftop at Pier 17 (89 South Street) puts you outdoors facing the Brooklyn Bridge in warm weather. All four are a walk of under ten minutes from 17 John Street.
Our own rooftop terrace, a block from the neighborhood's higher-up bars.
The Financial District has more good rooftops than people expect, mostly because the towers here are tall and the streets below are narrow. You get views that Midtown rooftops can't match: the harbor, the bridges, the Woolworth Building lit up, One World Trade close enough to feel.
We're at 17 John Street, so everything on this list is a short walk from our door. A few notes before you go up. Most of these places want a reservation on Thursday through Saturday, and the ones with outdoor terraces will move you inside or close the terrace if the weather turns. Dress code is mostly "don't wear gym clothes." And prices are what you'd expect for a cocktail 60 floors above Wall Street, so if you want the view without the tab, the Staten Island Ferry is free and our own rooftop terrace is included with your stay.
Here's where we actually send guests, roughly in order of how often we send them.
What to know before you go up
Sunset is the busy hour. Show up 45 minutes before sunset or after 9pm if you don't want to wait.
Check the season. The outdoor-only spots (The Greens at Pier 17, Leonessa) run warm-weather hours and change over in winter. The indoor-and-terrace spots (Overstory, Manhatta) work year round.
Walk, don't drive. All of these are 2 to 20 minutes on foot from John Street. Parking down here is expensive and one-way streets make short drives slow.
Hours move. Every place below has changed its hours at least once in the past year. Call or check their site the day you go.
Overstory
· About an 8-minute walk from 17 John Street · $$$
This is the one to book if you only do one. It's a small cocktail bar (24 seats inside) on the 64th floor of 70 Pine Street, and the reason to go is the wraparound terrace with 360-degree views. You can see the harbor on one side and the whole island stretching north on the other. Drinks are serious and priced like it. Hours run 5pm to midnight Monday through Wednesday, 4pm to 1am Thursday through Saturday and 4pm to midnight on Sunday, and they take walk-ins when there's room, though a reservation on a weekend saves you a wait. Go before dark so you can actually see the city, then stay while it lights up.
Hide Rooftop
· Directly across John Street from us, about 1 minute · $$
The closest rooftop bar to our front door, and honestly the easiest call on a night when nobody wants to plan anything. It's on the 20th floor of the Artezen Hotel at 24 John Street, so you're lower than Overstory and closer to the buildings, which some people prefer. Lower floor, lower prices, less of a scene. Good for one drink before dinner on Stone Street or a nightcap when you've already walked ten miles that day.
Manhatta
· About a 6-minute walk · $$$$
Manhatta is a restaurant and bar on the 60th floor of 28 Liberty from the Union Square Hospitality group, and it's the right pick when the view is the occasion: an anniversary, a client dinner, your parents visiting. It's indoors with big windows rather than an open-air terrace, which makes it the reliable choice in February or in the rain. Sit at the bar if you didn't book a table. It faces the bridges and the East River, so ask for that side.
The Greens on The Rooftop at Pier 17
· About a 9-minute walk · $$
Less bar, more outdoor hangout. The Greens sits on the roof of Pier 17 in the Seaport with small fenced-off lawns you can reserve, drinks and food service, and a straight-on view of the Brooklyn Bridge and the East River. It's the most relaxed option here and the only one that works with kids in tow during the day. The rooftop's programming shifts with the season (concerts in summer, a rink in winter), so check theseaport.nyc before you walk over.
Leonessa
· About a 15 to 18-minute walk west · $$$
Technically Battery Park City rather than FiDi proper, and worth the extra ten minutes if you want the Hudson instead of the East River. It's a rooftop bar on the west side of Lower Manhattan, so you get the sunset over New Jersey and the harbor to your left. Make it the end of a waterfront walk: take the Battery to the esplanade, then come up for a drink.
Our rooftop terrace at 17 John
· Elevator · Included with your stay
Not a bar, and we're not pretending otherwise. But the rooftop terrace here is a nice spot in the evening, it's free, and you can bring up whatever you picked up at the market. Guests staying in the Signature 3-Bedroom or the Deluxe 2-Bedroom, both on the 3rd floor, have a private terrace of their own. If your plan is a glass of wine and quiet, save the $22 cocktail and come up here.
