J., a resident of 80 Chambers, invited me up to admire the big communal roof deck at her building, which includes 270 Broadway. As StreetEasy explains….

The former Arthur Levitt State Office Building, which was completed in 1930 and converted to residential apartments in 2002, is composed of three distinct components. 270 Broadway retains the original Art Deco lobby and accesses floors 16-28. 80 Chambers Street has a contemporary lobby and encompasses floors 8-15. The 15th floor can be accessed by both elevator banks, serving as a crossover floor. Both residential elements are governed by a single board. 86 Chambers Street, a commercial condominium, occupies floors 2-7.

The roof deck is atop the 28th floor, and it runs nearly the entire length of the building. (Two penthouses have private roof decks.) As you can see from these two photos—from the center, more or less, looking east and then west—the roofline is irregular, so there’s no way to get a shot of the whole thing.

(It’s irregular because many apartments below have private balconies.)

So let’s start with the eastern half, which includes views to the south, over many smaller buildings.

Or at least it does for now…. The owner of 265 Broadway, directly to the south, has plans to build on the small lot, although whether it has the rights to construct a 42-story tower remains unclear.

In any event, the views from 270 Broadway/80 Chambers will still be amazing. To the southeast, where the Beekman Hotel condo tower continues to dreck up the skyline.

But just to the left is, for my money, the most unbeatable moment.

There are more seating areas—from chaises longues to dining tables—than I bothered to count.

This table was probably my favorite, despite being against a wall, because I loved the wooden slats and inset planters.

The landscaping all along the roof deck, by Ron Canal (917-312-1337, roncanal@mac.com), is lovely. Besides trees and flowering plants, there are even tomatoes, peppers, squash, and—on the espaliered trees in the second-to-last photo—apples.

Back to the views! From the northeast to the north—hello, Midtown!—to the northwest to the west….

And even back to the southwest.

For all of the stupendous views, I was most taken with the many opportunities to look at the other roof decks in the neighborhood. Here’s a photo that I’ll run huge—click on it—so you can see what I mean.

And then I scoped out decks that I’ve had my eye on for a while. I always thought there was a pool atop the Cary Building at Church and Chambers, but I guess not.

And I’ve always loved the one on the west end of 57 Reade, in the lower right corner of this photo.

From street level on Church, you can only catch a glimpse of the château topper at 41 Warren—with a checkerboard deck on top—but up here it’s more visible. (And in looking up the address later, I discovered that it’s listed for $9 million.)

And finally, a wild deck on Worth Street I’d love to see firsthand—AHEM—which we loft-peeped in 2013.

Before I went back down to earth, I had a visitor.

Previously:
••• 53 N. Moore
••• 88 Greenwich
••• 50 Murray
••• 100 Barclay
••• 200 Chambers