Manhattan Traffic Cameras: Watch Every Major Corridor Live

Manhattan is where NYC's camera network earns its keep. The borough packs the FDR Drive, the West Side Highway, two Hudson River tunnels, four East River crossings, and the most photographed intersection on Earth into 23 square miles — and nearly all of it is covered by live NYC DOT cameras you can watch for free.

The highways: FDR Drive and the West Side Highway

The FDR Drive cameras run the length of the east side, from the Battery up past the Triborough approach — the fastest way to see whether the drive is moving before you commit to it. On the west side, Route 9A cameras cover the West Side Highway, which becomes the Henry Hudson Parkway north of 72nd Street.

The Midtown grid and the crosstown streets

In the core, cameras watch Times Square, Columbus Circle, Rockefeller Center, and the avenues that carry the load — Madison and Lexington at Grand Central among them.

Downtown, Canal Street shows the Holland Tunnel and Manhattan Bridge crush, with more feeds at the Flatiron and Union Square. Uptown, the 125th Street camera covers Harlem's main crosstown corridor.

Bridge and tunnel approaches

DOT cameras cover the Manhattan-side approaches to the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, the Queensboro Bridge, and the Brooklyn Bridge. The tunnels themselves belong to the Port Authority and MTA, but the approach cameras are what tell you how long the line is.

How to watch only Manhattan

On the live dashboard, use the borough filter to cut the grid to Manhattan, or type a street name into search. The map view plots every camera geographically, and any feed can be favorited so your commute checks take seconds.

Watching a different part of the city? See the live camera guides for Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island — or the full five-borough tour. For more on cities, money, and how things actually work, follow us on X @NWExplained.