Monkey Bar
1F · Hotel Elysee · Midtown Manhattan (Rockefeller Center)
The bar that has been inside the Hotel Elysee since 1936, with Charlie Studin's 1944 paintings of monkeys covering the walls and the ceiling. The space has gone through multiple renovations and ownerships over eighty years without anyone touching them, which tells you something about what each operator understood to be the point.
Atmosphere
Slightly theatrical, comfortable with its own history, not trying to be anything it isn't. It's a bar that has outlasted every trend that tried to replace it, which earns a particular kind of loyalty from people who have been coming for decades.
The Hidden Side
While Charlie Studin’s 1944 murals are the foundation, the 2022 update by the legendary Edward Sorel added a layer of contemporary wit that only an insider would spot. These paintings are site-specific and impossible to reproduce. You aren't just buying a martini; you're renting a seat in a 90-year-long conversation among New York's cultural giants.
Location
Monkey Bar · Hotel Elysee
60 E 54th St, New York, NY 10022
About Hotel Elysee
The Hotel Elysee has been on East 54th Street since 1926 and spent most of the twentieth century as the preferred New York address for artists and writers who needed somewhere specific: Tennessee Williams kept a suite here for years, Marlon Brando stayed, Tallulah Bankhead was a notorious regular. The Monkey Bar downstairs has Charlie Studin's 1944 murals to show for all of it. The hotel is currently undergoing for a full renovation and reopens Fall 2026.
Stay at Hotel Elysee
Reserve a room, then explore bars, dining, and more on property—starting with this spot.