The views around New York City—whether you're on the ground or 100-floors over it, whether you're a tourist or native—are spectacular to behold, and you don't need to be an urban explorer leaning precariously over a ledge to enjoy some of the best ones. We've been visiting some of the highest legally-accessed views around Manhattan, previously making stops at 1WTC, the Top of the Rock, the tallest hotel rooftop lounge in the city, and the New Museum's terrace. Now, we're heading back to Midtown where, did you know?, there's a rotating restaurant 48 floors above Times Square.
The View is New York’s only revolving rooftop restaurant and lounge, taking you on a 360° turn every hour, delivering the most striking changing views if you head over there just before sunset. They open at 5 p.m. (and remain open until about 1:30 a.m. on weekdays, 10 or 11 p.m. on weekends), and on Sunday they offer brunch from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. You can find it on the 48th floor of the Marriott Marquis in Times Square.
The View was designed by John Portman and opened in 1985. At that time, Windows on the World—located on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center—had already been opened nearly 10 years. That could have been one reason The View seems to have been overlooked in the NY Times dining section, though curiously enough in 1986 they took a trip to Stamford, CT to dine at their Marriott's rotating restaurant.
In 2005, however, Charles McGrath did mention The View in the Paper of Record, declaring: “The only place where you can pretend to be a tycoon and sip a martini while looking down on the city is The View, the cocktail lounge at the top of the Marriott Marquis, a space so unglamorous that it makes you understand the current fashion for hanging out not at the tops of buildings but in their atriums.” It should be noted this was before the restaurant's redesign, though he's right, it's no Cloud Club (but that place didn't rotate).
