PlanetEye

If you're like me, eating and drinking alfresco is a must this time of year unless it's incredibly humid or raining.  Luckily, Bookmarks Rooftop Lounge & Terrace, nestled on the 14th floor of the Library Hotel, accommodates both the ideal and not-so-hot weather conditions when it comes to downing a few cocktails. The enclosed greenhouse "aka writer's den" as well as the outdoor terrace "aka poetry garden" are both ideal vantage points high above midtown's soaring skyscrapers for sipping literary inspired drinks like the Tequila Mockingbird or the Ernest Hemmingway, a scholarly yet hard edged mix of rum, champagne, lime juice, and mint.
 
Once off the elevator, you'll notice the sleek black bar directly ahead staffed with attentive bartenders dressed in crisp white tuxedos. Liquor selections line the wall in two tiers backlit with a soft blue.  Allow yourself to get swept away in the patrician vibe and head over to the greenhouse which has an upscale men's lounge ambiance complete with large leather sofas. If weather permits, hit the terrace, a veritable secret garden outfitted with wicker furniture and lush vegetation surrounded by a brick and stone railing. Be sure to visit outside the happy hour rush for a shorter wait and the requisite calm needed to successfully imagine that you are that next budding novelist on hiatus between writing stints.