Profile

Across the hall from the Standard Hotel's celebrity-favored retro lounge Top of the Standard is its younger, naked-er neighboring bi-level roof bar and club. The narrow, all-black tiled lower level, located on the 18th floor of the hotel, is the club part. Its most noticeable feature, besides the river views, is a hot tub in the back, which may or may not contain hot topless chicks. Up the industrial staircase -- complete with fake "sexy" graffiti and the Standard's cheesy board shorts vending machine -- is the roof bar. Keeping with the pool theme are the low plastic string lounge chairs, stacks of neatly rolled white towels strewn about the Astroturf lawn, three large, round pink waterbeds and female employees clad in tennis whites with see-through skirts showing yellow knickers. The snacks (including savory and sweet crepes) and drinks (mostly fruity cocktails served in plastic tumblers) combine to give the whole place the atmosphere of a flamboyantly fun Fourth of July party. And all of those accoutrements are easily trumped by the killer views: the space is glassed in on all sides, meaning scenic vistas of the river and beyond. Two planted binoculars provide close-ups of Lady Liberty. — Molly Finkelstein

Related Stories

Featured In

• Where to Drink Now: A Seven-Day-a-Week Cheat Sheet (5/28/12)
• Best of New York Fun 2011: Best Rooftop Bar (3/14/11)