Where to Take Photos in NYC: The Low-Key Spots Locals Use

Almost every candid moment in New York is a photograph. A guy asleep on the 6 train with a cake box on his lap. Steam off a manhole at 7am. Somebody’s grandmother in full sequins on a Tuesday. You don’t need a spot for those. You need to look up from your phone.

For the landscape shots, the skyline, the bridges, the light, a few places are worth going out of your way for. Here they are, with the famous ones first and the low-key ones after.

The bridges

The hole in the Manhattan Bridge fence. Walk the pedestrian path on the south side of the Manhattan Bridge, roughly a third of the way across from either end. The chain-link fence has openings cut into it, just big enough for a lens. Through them you get the Brooklyn Bridge and the downtown skyline with nothing in the way. The city patches them, and new ones appear, so scan the fence as you go. Shoot through them. Don’t climb, lean out or widen anything; there are trains inches away.

Washington Street, DUMBO. Stand on Washington Street at Water Street and look toward the water. The Manhattan Bridge fills the gap between the brick buildings, with the Empire State Building framed under the arch. It’s the most photographed block in Brooklyn for a reason. Go at sunrise if you want it without fifty people in it. The Manhattan Bridge lookout nearby is the same view from a quieter angle.

Under the Brooklyn Bridge. Pebble Beach and the edge of Main Street Park put you at the waterline, with the bridge overhead and Jane’s Carousel glowing in its glass box. Best at blue hour, just after sunset.

Hell Gate Bridge from Astoria Park. Almost no visitor goes here. A huge steel arch over the East River, with the Triborough Bridge beside it and a long lawn to shoot from.

The skyline from across the water

Gantry Plaza State Park, Long Island City. The old gantry cranes, the red Pepsi-Cola sign and Midtown straight across the river, the UN and the Chrysler Building included. Stay through sunset. The skyline lights up behind the sign.

Brooklyn Heights Promenade. A long, quiet terrace looking at Lower Manhattan and the harbor. Good at any hour, best at dusk.

Domino Park, Williamsburg. The Williamsburg Bridge close up, Midtown in the distance, and the old sugar refinery machinery in the foreground.

Transmitter Park, Greenpoint. A small, low-key waterfront park with a clean line across the river to Midtown and the Empire State Building.

The Roosevelt Island Tram. Costs the same as a subway ride and runs right alongside the Queensboro Bridge, above the traffic on Second Avenue. Get a spot at a window facing south. At the far end of Roosevelt Island, the south tip looks straight down the East River.

The Statue of Liberty without a ticket

The Staten Island Ferry. Free, with a clear, straight-on view of the statue as it passes. Stand on the right side going out. Ignore anyone selling tickets on the walk there; here’s how that scam works.

Valentino Pier, Red Hook. A small public pier with the statue straight ahead across the harbor. Beautiful at sunset, and usually close to empty.

Battle Hill, Green-Wood Cemetery. The highest point in Brooklyn. A bronze statue of Minerva stands there with her arm raised toward the Statue of Liberty, which you can see in the distance behind her. Free to walk in. On the way, look up at the main gate on Fifth Avenue: wild parrots nest in its spires. Be respectful. It’s a working cemetery.

Governors Island. A short ferry from Lower Manhattan. Climb the hills on the south end for the statue, the harbor and the whole downtown skyline in one frame.

Streets and small places

Tudor City Greens and the Tudor City bridge. A bridge over 42nd Street that lines up the street straight west. On Manhattanhenge evenings, the sun sets down the middle of it and the bridge fills with photographers.

Doyers Street, Chinatown. A short, crooked street with a sharp bend and old signs. One of the most atmospheric blocks in Manhattan.

Freeman’s Alley, Lower East Side. A dead-end alley covered in stickers and graffiti, with a restaurant door at the end.

Commerce Street, West Village. A curving street of old brick houses, the Cherry Lane Theatre and the Twin Peaks house nearby. The West Village at its most storybook.

The 190th Street station and the 187th Street steps, Washington Heights. A subway station carved deep into the rock, with a tunnel that opens onto a park, and a street nearby that turns into a steep staircase. Moody, quiet and nothing like downtown.

Stone Street, Financial District. Cobblestones and old buildings under the towers. Best on a quiet weekend morning.

Inside, when it rains

Grand Central’s main concourse. The clock, the painted ceiling, and light through the huge windows in the morning. Shoot from the balcony stairs on the west side.

The New York Public Library. The lions outside, marble halls inside, and the Rose Main Reading Room during the visiting hour. In the Reading Room, keep it quiet, no flash, and don’t photograph people working.

The Ford Foundation atrium. A garden growing inside a glass building in Midtown. Free, and almost nobody’s there. Register online by 5pm the day before, and leave the tripod at home.

How to shoot the city

• Go early. Sunrise on a weekday gets you the famous spots with nobody in them.
• Blue hour beats sunset. The twenty minutes after the sun goes down, when the buildings light up and the sky is still blue, is when the skyline looks best.
• Keep the sidewalk moving. Step to the edge before you stop. New Yorkers will walk through your shot and they’re right to.
• Private is private. Mews and courtyards like Sniffen Court and Pomander Walk are people’s homes. Shoot from the gate, never through windows.
• Look up, then look around. The best photo on the Manhattan Bridge might be the guy on the bench next to you.

Or let someone else hold the camera

Every spot on this list is free to walk to, and this guide is all you need to find them. If you would rather be in the pictures than behind them, our private guided walks include the photographs: a licensed guide who knows where to stand and when the light is right, taking them all day, and sending you the lot afterwards.

Questions about anything in this guide? Reach MUSEENYC at museenyc.art@gmail.com or @museenyc on Instagram.

The city is the photo. The spots worth the trip → museenyc.com