An aerial view of celebrities’ NYC rooftops

Private rooftop residences are a rarity in New York City and, generally hidden from public view, like the celebrity homeowners who own them. The New York Post reported that an aerial photographer now has a book that shows rare views of the rooftops of celebrities.

Alex MacLean snapped photos of the rooftop homes from a helicopter without the residents’ knowledge and included them in a book, to be published next month, entitled “Up on the Roof: New York’s Hidden Skyline Spaces.”

“You get a sense that there’s a whole world going on right above us,” MacLean told the Post. “When you’re down on the street, you have no idea.”

The book provides a view of actress and singer Bette Midler’s Upper East Side 3,100-square-foot rooftop space, which has a glass-enclosed patio and trees, at 1125 Fifth Avenue at 94th Street. There are also shots of financial lawyer Fred Rich’s 2,000-square-foot terrace at the Visionaire in Battery Park City, which has a vegetable and fruit farm, as well as an outdoor yoga studio. Other rooftops photographed include ones of then-married model Heidi Klum and singer Seal and developer Matthew Blesso of Blesso Properties, whose East Village home has soundproof insulation made of recycled denim, according to the Post. [Post]