A visit to Pod 39 Hotel Rooftop Bar in Manhattan’s Murray Hill

Located at 145 East 39th Street (just east of Lexington Avenue), the Pod 39 Hotel recently opened a rooftop bar.  17 stories above east 39th street, this rooftop spot offers good views east, south and west (alas, most of the Chrysler building just to the north, except for the spire, is blocked).  The bar offers specialty cocktails, along with five tap beers and six bottled/canned beers.  The physical bar is located in the center of the space, with small tables along the establishment’s perimeter.  During our visit, the bartenders seemed extremely overwhelmed as numerous patrons waited several minutes at the bar for their drinks.  Perhaps the bar was understaffed, but the place was not supercrowded either.  If this waiting time for drinks is not a usual occurrence, then we recommend Pod 39 as a place to stop by for a drink; perhaps even as an addition to the Midtown East rooftop bar crawl.

A view looking east

A view southwest toward the Empire State Building.