The Nest is 13 stories high. SARAH FLOTARD
People in the United States have been knocking back drinks on top of buildings since at least the 1880s, when Rudolph Aronson, inspired by Parisian gardens but lacking space in New York City, built a rooftop garden bar on top of the Casino Theater on Broadway. Plants, booze, a summer breeze, performances—it was a hit.
“Manhattan was land-poor but roof-rich, and rooftop complexes, many modeled after German beer gardens, bloomed from the Battery to the Bronx,” according to Imbibe magazine. “Society columnists began referring to a ‘roof garden season.’ The new Madison Square Garden, then under construction, added its own elaborate rooftop garden, and when it opened, it was the grandest ever seen.”
