The counterintuitive move: the best views of Manhattan are not from Manhattan. Cross to Brooklyn — Westlight in Williamsburg or the hotel roofs of Dumbo — and the whole glittering skyline lines up across the river for the price of one cocktail. In midtown itself, choose older, smaller roofs over the velvet-rope megabars. May, June and September are the season; many rooftops shut or shrink under plastic domes in deep winter.
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The city that revived the cocktail still sets the pace, and the East Village and Lower East Side hold the densest constellation of great rooms — Death & Co, Attaboy and their many descendants within stumbling distance. Most don't take bookings: put your name down early, then drink somewhere unambitious until the text arrives. One structural tip: bartenders here genuinely enjoy 'make me something' briefs, and tipping well makes round two better.
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