Flock & ALPR cameras in New York, NY
2,358 mapped ALPR cameras around metro New York as of 3 September 2026, run by 115 operators — including 40 in private hands. See each one on the live map below — which way it faces and its approximate capture zone — free, no account. BanditKin is the private app that routes around them.
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What makes New York different
New York is the outlier of every metro on this site — different operator, different vendors, and far less information about which way the cameras point.
Across almost every metro BanditKin maps, the largest operator is a police department — not here. New York's biggest mapped operator is the New York City Department of Transportation, with 659 cameras, 28% of the metro. The NYPD comes second with 227 under its full name and a further 45 tagged simply 'NYPD', and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's police force (144) and the authority itself (87) add another 231 between them. This is a transport-agency network first and a policing network second.
The vendor mix is unlike anywhere else too. Ekin leads with 584 mapped cameras, ahead of Flock Safety's 506 — New York is one of the few metros we map where Flock is not the largest vendor, alongside Kansas City (Genetec) and San Diego (Ubicquia). Behind them, Leonardo (265), Genetec (177), Motorola Solutions (149) and Redspeed (115) each run three-figure fleets — a spread of manufacturers found almost nowhere outside the New York area.
The most important difference for drivers is a gap in the data rather than in the hardware. Only 964 of New York's 2,358 mapped cameras — 41% — record which way they face, one of the lowest shares of any metro on this site; Detroit, at the other end, records a bearing for 97%. Camera avoidance works from those bearings, so it has much less to go on here than almost anywhere else. We would rather say that plainly than imply coverage we do not have.
New York also has one of the widest gaps between public records and mapped reality that we have found. The EFF Atlas of Surveillance documents two agencies in this area — the NYPD and the MTA Police Department — while the map records 115 distinct operators. That is a records gap, not an absence of cameras.
Two things about the map area itself. It is drawn as a box around Manhattan, so it reaches well into New Jersey — Sayreville, Fort Lee, Secaucus and Middlesex County all appear in the operator table, and figures for Jersey City or Newark would describe these same cameras rather than additional ones. And 132 of the mounts here are overhead gantries spanning the roadway, a fixture that barely registers outside the New York area.
This page is part of the New York State camera hub, which counts every camera inside the state line rather than by metro box; the New Jersey side of this box is counted on the New Jersey hub.
New York ALPR cameras by the numbers
What the public data actually shows about plate readers around New York, counted from the same map above.
2,358
Mapped ALPR cameras in metro New York
115
Separate operating agencies on the map
964
Cameras with a recorded facing direction
506
Cameras tagged Flock Safety
Read from the live map on 3 September 2026. The underlying records are OpenStreetMap entries plus community submissions — nobody who operates a camera is obliged to declare it, so these are the documented minimum rather than the full picture. The metro is a box roughly 50 miles across centred on New York.
How New York compares
Top of the table on size among the 251 metro areas tracked, all counted the same way on the same day.
New York ranks 12th of the 251 metro areas BanditKin tracks by mapped cameras, between Jersey City, NJ and Chicago, IL, and 5th by operator count.
On composition it ranks 101st on how much of the metro its largest operator holds (28%) and 244th on the share of cameras with a recorded bearing (41%) — a concentrated network.
Mapped ALPR cameras
2,358 — 12th of 251
Separate operators on the map
115 — 5th of 251
Cameras per operator
20.5 — 69th of 251
Largest operator's share
28% — 101st of 251
Share with a recorded bearing
41% — 244th of 251
Ranked against the 251 metro areas BanditKin tracks, every one read from the live map on 3 September 2026. Metro areas are drawn as a box around the city centre, so neighbouring metros can share cameras and these counts must never be added together.
Which departments run the cameras around New York
Who runs New York's plate readers — the 20 biggest of 115 operators, by mapped cameras.
NYC Department of Transportation
659 cameras
New York City Police Department
227 cameras
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department
144 cameras
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
87 cameras
NYPD
45 cameras
Sayreville Police Department
39 cameras
Nassau County Sheriff's Department
35 cameras
The Home Depot
30 cameras
MTA
28 cameras
Middlesex County Sheriff's Office
26 cameras
Fort Lee Police Department
25 cameras
Secaucus Police Department
24 cameras
Union County Sheriff's Office
23 cameras
Rockland County Sheriff's Office
23 cameras
Perth Amboy Police Department
19 cameras
MTA Bridges and Tunnels
19 cameras
Port Authority of NY & NJ
19 cameras
Yonkers Police Department
18 cameras
Passaic County Sheriff's Office
16 cameras
Westchester County Police RTC/Intelligence Regional and National Data Sharing
16 cameras
These are the 20 largest of 115 operators. Where OpenStreetMap names an operator we use that name; otherwise the camera is attributed to whichever jurisdiction it stands in (657 cameras here), which is a sound inference rather than a confirmed fact. 485 cameras record no operator of any kind.
It isn't all Flock
'Flock' has become shorthand for any plate reader. Around New York it is only part of the story — 25% of the vendor-tagged cameras — but Ekin accounts for 584.
Ekin
584 cameras
Flock Safety
506 cameras
Leonardo
265 cameras
Genetec
177 cameras
Motorola Solutions
149 cameras
Redspeed Redcurb
115 cameras
Mav (IQ:350XR)
107 cameras
Rekor
64 cameras
Manufacturer is a free-text field, so spellings and legal names have been consolidated here. 190 of 2,358 mapped cameras name no manufacturer at all, which makes the actual distribution broader than shown. 2 further manufacturers fall below the eight shown. These count cameras on the map, not purchase orders.
Where they sit, and which way they face
964 of the 2,358 mapped cameras around New York record which way they point, which is what makes routing around them possible.
Most readers sit on a dedicated pole a few metres up, angled at one lane of traffic, with a solar panel above. Where the mount is recorded around New York:
On a dedicated pole
1,174 cameras
On an overhead gantry
132 cameras
On a street lamp
92 cameras
On a post
9 cameras
On a bridge
9 cameras
On a ceiling
3 cameras
On a wall
1 camera
One camera covers one approach, so its heading is what decides which journeys end up recorded. Around New York the mapped bearings distribute like this:
Facing north
176 cameras
Facing south
132 cameras
Facing east
125 cameras
Facing west
123 cameras
Facing northeast
117 cameras
Facing northwest
113 cameras
Facing southwest
92 cameras
Facing southeast
86 cameras
Bearings come from public map data and describe an approximate capture zone, never an exact field of view. 1,388 mapped cameras have no recorded bearing, and 6 are tagged as omnidirectional.
Documented ALPR programs around New York
The EFF Atlas of Surveillance documents 2 agencies around New York with automated license plate readers; the map records 115 operators. Both are floors.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department
The Metropolitan Transit Authority Police scanned 2,536,196 license plates in 2017 using Vigilant Solutions automated license plate readers. Vendor: Vigilant Solutions.
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department uses Argus stationary and mobile automated license plate readers. The agency operates approximately 500 automated license plate readers as part of its Domain Awareness System. Vendor: Argus.
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation, Atlas of Surveillance. Summaries are the Atlas's own wording, trimmed to a complete sentence.
Seeing the cameras is free. Avoiding them is the app.
Knowing where the cameras are is half of it. The BanditKin app routes around the ones with a recorded bearing when you ask it to, tells you plainly when it can't, and never sends your identity or location anywhere.
This page is part of the New York camera hub, which counts every camera inside the state line rather than by metro box. New to this? Read what ALPR cameras capture, how long it is kept, and who can search it. Not in New York? Search the full map by any city.
ALPR camera maps for nearby and related cities: Buffalo, NY · Stamford, CT · Trenton, NJ · New Haven, CT · Allentown, PA · Philadelphia, PA.
Get BanditKin on Google PlayNew York ALPR questions
How many Flock cameras does New York have?
As of 3 September 2026 the map records 2,358 ALPR cameras around New York, 506 of them tagged Flock Safety, across 115 operators. The number only ever grows as more are mapped; it is not a complete inventory.
Where are Flock cameras in New York?
The live map above shows 2,358 mapped ALPR cameras around metro New York, each with an approximate viewing cone. Positions come from OpenStreetMap and community reports, so coverage may be incomplete — if you know a camera that isn't shown, you can report it directly on the map.
Who operates the ALPR cameras around New York?
NYC Department of Transportation is the largest mapped operator with 659 cameras, ahead of New York City Police Department's 227. Beyond them the network spreads across 114 other operators. Private operators are part of it: The Home Depot (30). The EFF Atlas of Surveillance documents 2 agencies across this area.
Can I avoid Flock cameras when driving in New York?
Avoidance runs off recorded bearings, and New York has 964 of 2,358 mapped cameras with one. BanditKin's navigation can route around them: it is opt-in, field-of-view-aware, and has a strength slider you control. Where no camera-free route exists it says so plainly and falls back to the normal route. This is a privacy preference — choosing not to be logged by a commercial surveillance network on public roads — and it works from public camera-location data.
Is this map free? Do I need an account?
Yes, the map is free, and no account is needed. It is built on public data — OpenStreetMap and the EFF Atlas of Surveillance — plus community reports. The BanditKin app adds the private navigation that routes around the cameras.