NY Boozeup With a View

October 6, 2005 10:31 PM

Affordable bars for weekend booze-up with a view of manhattan?

I'm having a birthday bash in a couple of weeks, and I'd like to hold it in a bar with the following properties [properties are in order of priority]

a) a view of manhattan (either within manhattan looking up/down or from either bkln/queens/at-a-push-jersey)
b) can let 20ish people in on a fri/sat night
c) affordable and not chi-chi (i.e the midtown hotel bars are out)
d) relatively easy to get to on public transport from downtown manhattan

Any suggestions, bearing in mind it's October and a little chilly?

(Gowanus Yahct Club was tempting....any ideas about river cafe as a bar, not a restaurant?)

posted by lalochezia to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

Strangely enough, there may be a midtown bar that works: the second-floor bar overlooking Times Square in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 49th & Broadway. I remember it having a terrific view, nice ambience, and pretty affordable (it is, after all, a Holiday Inn in fancy-ish drag).
posted by rob511 at 4:43 AM on October 7, 2005

How about Alma?
posted by jeb at 6:40 AM on October 7, 2005

I live nowhere near NY, but after following jeb's links (I was bored), I notice that the customers of Alma aren't too happy.
posted by madman at 7:28 AM on October 7, 2005

Alma is great, but it is a restaurant, not a bar (well, there is a semi-affiliated bar on the 1st floor, but it has no view).

River Cafe is not a good choice, based on what you want to do (it is expensive and not booze-up oriented).

Gowanus Yacht Club has no view.
posted by sad_otter at 8:07 AM on October 7, 2005

This is the last weekend that the NY Water Taxi Beach is open. But it looks like the freshly imported NJ sand might be a bit wet.
posted by Oddly at 9:19 AM on October 7, 2005