Cantor Roof Garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Roxy Paine's "Maelstrom"

Rooftop view of verdant trees in Central Park and the skyline of midtown Manhattan

The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden of the MetropolitanMuseum of Art is perched over the sea of Central Park's trees, and offers a great panoramic view of the midtown Manhattan skyline. It is located on the fifth floor of the Met via the elevator in the European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Galleries. The roof garden serves cocktail and sandwiches and is open from May through late fall, weather permitting. Hours are: Friday and Saturday: 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.; Martini Bar: 5:30–8:00 p.m.; Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 10:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; Closed Mondays.

Currently on view at the rooftop garden until November is Roxy Paine's "Maelstrom."

From the Met's website:

American artist Roxy Paine (b. 1966) has created a 130-foot-long by 45-foot-wide stainless-steel sculpture, especially for the Museum’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden. Giving viewers the sense of being immersed in the midst of a cataclysmic force of nature, Maelstrom (2009) is Paine’s largest and most ambitious work to date. The latest in a diverse body of work, this sculpture is one of the artist’s Dendroids based on systems such as vascular networks, tree roots, industrial piping, and fungal mycelia. Set against Central Park and its architectural backdrop, the installation explores the interplay between the natural world and the built environment amid nature’s inherently chaotic processes.