The Islamic State is on the march. Ebola’s North American tour just opened in Dallas. An Islamofascist beheading has rocked Oklahoma. And a madman just raced through the White House while the Secret Service snoozed.

Need some good news?

Look no further than the 65th floor of Manhattan’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The legendary Rainbow Room re-opened yesterday, after being shuttered for five years when its previous, tax-evading owners tangled with the building’s proprietors. This happy occasion comes 80 years, nearly to the day, after this storied venue first welcomed the public on October 3, 1934.

The Rainbow Room itself features dining facilities, a musical stage, and even a revolving dance floor. Its floor-to-ceiling windows give patrons plenty to admire outside. Atop private events, the Rainbow Room will offer brunch on Sundays and a la carte dinners on Mondays. The latter will feature entertainment by Michael Arenella & His Dreamland Orchestra, two-time Tony winner Christine Ebersole, and the Count Basie Orchestra, among others. Additional, smaller spaces also will be available for smaller business meals, receptions, and similar gatherings.

Just down the hall, an equally elegant and very comfortable bar called SixtyFive will wet the whistles of drinkers with specialty cocktails and a beer list that includes Sugar Hill, a golden ale brewed in Harlem. (Duke Ellington fans will recall that “You must take the A Train to go to Sugar Hill, way up in Harlem.”) The room’s chiseled, angular ceiling is finished in glistening silver leaf that gently reflects the lights from other buildings and the showy billboards in nearby Times Square. This bar in the sky will be open weekdays from 5:00 p.m. to Midnight.

Tishman Speyer, the new owner of the Rainbow Room and SixtyFive, has renovated the place with class and subtlety. The old venue’s Art Deco ambiance has been preserved, if not enhanced. This is a huge relief, given how once-memorable establishments like the Film Center Cafe in Hell’s Kitchen were updated into utterly forgettable oblivion. Thankfully, staff members in the lobby of 30 Rock will enforce a much-welcome dress code. Allegedly grown men in flip flops, cargo shorts, untucked T-shirts, and backward baseball caps need not apply.

Just outside SixtyFive, from a height of some 800 feet, an open-air terrace lets visitors marvel at Manhattan’s stunning skyline. Ten-foot tall, very thick panes of glass do nothing to impede the views to the north, south, and west. If anything, they frame the vistas of Gotham’s countless structures and even scenes as far away as rural New Jersey. On an incredibly clear evening recently, a warm breeze, a crescent moon, the spectacular surroundings, and a cool, delicious glass of Sugar Hill yielded an effect that was beyond intoxicating: For the first time in ages, Earth seemed like a peaceful place.