Flock & ALPR Cameras in Manhattan, New York
Volunteers have reported 9 automated license plate readers in and around Manhattan — cameras that log every passing plate with a time and location.
Jurisdiction · by recorded street address
The 9 cameras counted on this page are every reader mapped within about 20 kilometres of Manhattan, so the count crosses municipal lines. By the street address recorded for each one, 0 of them sit inside Manhattan itself.
The rest sit in New York (9).
9 of them name an operator in the record: NYC Department of Transportation (9). The operator is who runs the camera, which is not always the local government.
Source: community-mapped camera data (OpenStreetMap, ODbL), with addresses resolved by Nominatim.
Need this city’s camera data? Custom extracts are free for researchers, journalists and advocates. Ask for it.
- Sep 21 Mav (IQ:350XR) camera newly reported
- Sep 21 Mav (IQ:350XR) camera newly reported
- Sep 21 Ekin x spotter camera newly reported
- Sep 21 Ekin x spotter camera newly reported
Newly reported by volunteers — cameras may have been up long before someone mapped them.
Where the cameras are in Manhattan
The readers mapped around Manhattan break down as 4 Mav (IQ:350XR), 2 Ekin Box Spotter. Named operators in the reports: NYC Department of Transportation. The first camera here was reported in May 2026; the most recent in Jul 2026.
- Lexington Avenue — 4 readers
- East 79th Street — 1 reader
- 1st Avenue — 1 reader
Manhattan in the New York County picture
New York County has 299 reported cameras county-wide and ranks #1,444 of 3,222 U.S. counties for cameras per resident. That’s across 1,627,788 residents and 135 road miles. By road density that is 2.21 cameras per road mile, in the top 0% of counties nationally.
Where contributors recorded what a camera watches, the split here is 6 traffic. Operators named on the record: NYC Department of Transportation (6).
What’s watching Manhattan
These aren’t red-light cameras. Automated license plate readers like Flock Safety’s photograph every plate that passes, log the time and place, and store it in a searchable database that’s often shared far beyond Manhattan — here’s where that data goes. Counts cover cameras reported closest to Manhattan (within ~20 km), so nearby towns share the same corridors. Spot one that’s missing? Report it on DeFlock.
The latest around Manhattan
What you can do in Manhattan
Ask who approved these cameras, how long plate data is kept, and who it’s shared with. File a public records request, raise it at a council meeting, and see the full playbook on Take Action. Fighting this locally? Join or start a chapter and we’ll amplify you.
Not sure what one looks like? See photographs of installed cameras before you go looking.
Cameras near Manhattan
← All New York cameras, counties & cities
Camera reports: the open-source DeFlock project. Place data: GeoNames (CC BY).