Best rooftop gardens and urban farms in NYC including Gallow Green (2024)

This Greenwich Village eatery gets more than halfof its produce from its seasonal aeroponic rooftop tower garden, the fruits of which dictate the revolving menu. Recent menu items include house-made burrata with grilled ramps and English peas, an arugula salad topped with crisp pork belly, apple and fennel and a patty melt topped with a rooftop pickle.

Hosted by production company Broadway Stages and perched atop its soundstage in Greenpoint, Eagle Street boasts a killer view of Manhattan, not to mention 6,000 square feet of leafy green goodness. Every last Sunday of the month at 1pm, folks are invited to grab some farm-fresh veggies from the on-site market and help with planting and harvesting. Free

Head to the roof of the McKittrick Hotel, the home of Sleep No More, and enjoy live music, craft co*cktails and an unlimited sweet-and-savory buffet at Gallow Green’s weekend brunch. Don’t worry, there’s some actual gardening going on:In 2014, the restaurant’s aeroponic farm produced 4,000 heads of lettuce. You’ll taste thefresh herbs and vegetablesin many of the dishes and co*cktails. Brunch Saturdays and Sundays 11:30am–4pm; $38

Gotham Greens set up shop atop Brooklyn's Whole Foods in 2014, opening a commercial-scale, 20,000-square-foot greenhouse. The space produces 200,000 pounds of leafy greens, tomatoes and herbseach year that get sold downstairs in the adjoining marketand other grocery stores around the city. Though the garden is usually closed to the public due to food safety laws, Gotham Greens offers free tours of itsnearby rooftop deck every Wednesday at 6pm.

Granted, it’s a stretch to call a bunch of dirt-filled kiddie pools a farm, but considering the positive impact that this volunteer-run project is having on Hell’s Kitchen, we’ll let it slide. The veggies grown on the roof of the Metro Baptist Church are distributed through a local food pantry and CSA. Green-fingered volunteers are welcome every Thursday and Saturday, from 10am to 1pm. hkfp.org; free

Perched on top of one of the world's finest museums is one of the city’s finest vantage points—from both a sightseeing and cultural perspective. The museum recruitsa new rooftop art installation every summer, like this year’s The Theater of Disappearance, an assortmentof surreal sculptures by Adrián Villar Rojas.Visitors can sip co*cktails while examining the art and taking in spectacular views of Central Park and the Midtown skyline.

Riverpark, thefarm-to-table restaurant fromTop Chef judgeTom Colicchio and Gramercy Tavern alum Sisha Ortuzar, is serious about locally sourced produce. So serious, that in 2011, itstarted itsown temporarygarden in milk crates atthe stalled construction site next door. When buildingstarted up again a year later, Riverpark simply moved the portable gardento the north side of the plaza. The menu changes seasonally, and dishes like pasta with lamb, fava beans and mint highlight produce from Riverpark Farm and local greenmarkets.Opt to sit outside on the patiofor picturesque views of both the East River and the thriving garden next door.

Though Farm.One isn’t on a rooftop, you would be hard-pressed to find a more ground-breaking urban farm. (See what we did there?) This hydroponic farm inside the Institute of Culinary Education cultivates more than 250 different crops, including rare herbs, edible flours and microgreens. Hourlong tasting tours of the space run every Tuesday and Thursday evening, and budding farmers can also register for classes on indoor farming, hydroponics and plant care. Prices vary