Up on The Roof: New York's Hidden Skyline Spaces.

[599GTO]

This incredible collection of aerial photographs taken above New York gives a rare glimpse of a hidden rooftop world.

Just a few stories above the non-stop hubbub of city life exists an incredible oasis of lush gardens, restaurants, swimming pools and even tennis courts.

Thanks to Mayor Bloomberg's eco-friendly 'roofscaping' initiatives, the tops of dozens of buildings have been transformed into amazing outdoor living spaces and models for green-city living.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...x-maclean.html


Secret world: One of photographer Alex Maclean's amazing aerial shots shows a block in Upper West Side


Growing trend: A one acre urban farm in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens


Le Bain Roof Bar Meatpacking District


Urban jungle: A multi-level rooftop garden overlooking Central Park in Manhattan's Upper East Side


Artificial materials and pebbles make up the camouflage pattern on the roof at the Museum of Modern Art


Transformation: The High Line, an elevated park in the sky built on top of the tracks of a disused railway, weaves its way through the city blocks


Tudor City, Manhattan: A mid-rise apartment building topped with terrace gardens detailed with Tudor style flourishes


Chocks away: A vintage bi-plane is pictured on the roof of 77 Water Street in the city's financial district


Chelsea, Manhattan: A Cool mural on a white roof above a gallery building in Chelsea


Green living: A beautifully detailed high-rise terrace garden in Battery Park City


The School of the Future building at 127 East 22nd Street


Aerosol Art Center: An outdoor art exhibit space in Long Island City. A Mecca for graffiti artists the world over



Manhattan: New roof terraces in various stages of construction are configured around headhouses, lightwells and water towers


A stunning selection of roof gardens above 166 Bank St



Showpiece: The green roof above the Morgan mail processing facility, covers 109,000 square feet, or nearly 2.5 acres. During construction, approximately 90 percent of the original roof was recycled

[all of the trash]

a stunning variety of places to jump off and kill yourself

[EastSideHBG]

Cool stuff, and it's nice to see so much greenery making its way back into our concrete jungles!

Originally Posted by all of the trash

a stunning variety of places to jump off and kill yourself

[hauntedheadnc]

What a delight! There is no city out there that couldn't stand some more greenery.

[jodelli]

It's nice to see trees growing atop non-derelict buildings.

[jd3189]

This is close to a example of a "sky city" we have ever gotten close to.

[photoLith]

That Tudor City apartment building looks like the same building they filmed in Spider Man where Peters best friend lived, whatever the hell his name was.

[lakegz]

Interestingly enough, the Ansonia (large building) used to have space for farm animals on it's highest floor when it first opened. The owners wanted the tenants to have the freshest meat, eggs, milk and whatever else they could have on site. I read the building even has a large elevator used as a service one to bring cattle up and down.


Secret world: One of photographer Alex Maclean's amazing aerial shots shows a block in Upper West Side

[ardecila]

Not only is that building VERY SimCityish, but the photo even has a similar camera angle and lighting.

[MolsonExport]

Lovely. So many acres of surface finally being put to use.

[STLgasm]

Great thread.

[Private Dick]

Cool. There have always been rooftop living spaces/gardens, but it's really amazing that we are just now realizing all the things we can do with all this flat space in the sky.

I guess there were always safety issues in the past, and most roofs were only designed to be purely functional... simply to work as a roof and to house mechanical equipment. So much space underutilized, especially in city as space hungry as NYC.

I'm not really a high-rise living type of guy... I love the views, but I just get a feeling of isolation and disconnect from the outdoors that a little balcony can't remedy. But... having access to a landscaped yard in the sky could definitely change my mind. I think we should see more and more residential buildings designed with real rooftop living spaces in mind.

[llamaorama]

Not only is that building VERY SimCityish, but the photo even has a similar camera angle and lighting.

Yeah.

The NYC building style in Simcity 4 was pretty good, and the main thing that seemed to distinguish was buildings like this at the higher residential stages. Lots of ornate buildings with elevator and water tower structures on top and even some with gardens.

Anyways, I've always wondered why somewhere there hasn't been an attempt to create a really substantial green space on top of many connected urban buildings. Like in China, or somewhere where there is both a ton of massive development and strict urban planning. I know there are some building complexes like this already, with green roofs attached by skywalks. But wouldn't it be epic if an entire planned city or suburb had a forest in the sky?

[brickell]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

I'm not really a high-rise living type of guy... I love the views, but I just get a feeling of isolation and disconnect from the outdoors that a little balcony can't remedy. But... having access to a landscaped yard in the sky could definitely change my mind. I think we should see more and more residential buildings designed with real rooftop living spaces in mind.

This is my take away from the whole thing. Even a lot of single family homes would be lucky to have outdoor spaces on par with 166 bank st.

[10023]

Originally Posted by brickell

This is my take away from the whole thing. Even a lot of single family homes would be lucky to have outdoor spaces on par with 166 bank st.

Yeah, and for just $4.1 million you could have that kind of outdoor space in the city too:

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/51779...llage-new-york


But you've missed out on having Heidi Klum as a neighbor:

http://ny.curbed.com/tags/166-bank-street