Flock & ALPR cameras in New York, NY
1,871 mapped ALPR cameras around metro New York (as of August 2026), run by 101 operators — and led by the city's transportation department, not the NYPD. 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.
In all 21 metros BanditKin maps in detail, the largest operator is a police department — except here. New York’s biggest mapped operator is the New York City Department of Transportation, with 575 cameras, 31% of the metro. The NYPD comes second with 263, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s police force (144) and the authority itself (107) add another 251 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 505 mapped cameras, ahead of Flock Safety’s 397 — New York is one of only three metros we map where Flock is not the largest vendor, alongside Kansas City (Genetec) and San Diego (Ubicquia). Behind them sit Leonardo, Genetec, Motorola Solutions, Redspeed and Kapsch, each with dozens of cameras. No other metro comes close to this spread of manufacturers.
The most important difference for drivers is a gap in the data rather than in the hardware. Only 672 of New York’s 1,871 mapped cameras — 36% — record which way they face, the lowest share of any metro on this site; Detroit, at the other end, records a bearing for 98%. 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 the widest gap 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 101 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 121 of the mounts here are overhead gantries spanning the roadway, a fixture that barely registers in any other metro we map.
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.
1,871
Mapped ALPR cameras in metro New York
101
Separate operating agencies on the map
672
Cameras with a recorded facing direction
620
Records added or updated in the last 90 days
Source: the BanditKin public camera map, sampled 3 August 2026. It pools OpenStreetMap tagging with reports from people who spot cameras locally, so the dataset grows as attention grows. Every total here understates the real one.
How New York compares
Seventh by size, third by operator count, and last of 21 on the one measure that matters most for routing.
New York ranks 7th of the 21 metros by mapped cameras, between Chicago and San Jose, and 3rd by number of operators, behind only Chicago and Los Angeles.
But it places 21st of 21 on the share of cameras with a recorded bearing. At 36% it sits well below the next-lowest metro, San Diego at 49%, and around 60 points below Detroit’s 98%. If you are here to plan around cameras rather than simply see them, that limitation matters more than the headline count.
Mapped ALPR cameras
1,871 · 7th of 21
Separate operators on the map
101 · 3rd of 21
Cameras per operator
18.5 · 15th of 21
Largest operator’s share
31% · 6th of 21
Share with a recorded bearing
36% · 21st of 21
Ranked against the 21 metros BanditKin maps in detail, all counted the same way on the same day. 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
The mapped cameras around New York trace back to 101 separate operators. New York City Department of Transportation accounts for the largest single share.
New York City Department of Transportation
575 cameras
New York City Police Department
263 cameras
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department
144 cameras
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
107 cameras
Sayreville Police Department
46 cameras
Nassau County Sheriff's Department
35 cameras
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
33 cameras
The Home Depot
26 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
Town of Westfield Police Department
21 cameras
MTA Bridges and Tunnels
19 cameras
Perth Amboy Police Department
18 cameras
Yonkers Police Department
18 cameras
Passaic County Sheriff's Office
16 cameras
Rockland County Sheriff's Office
16 cameras
Essex County Sheriff's Office
14 cameras
Linden Police Department
13 cameras
20 largest operators of 101 in total. Attribution is direct where the map tags it and inferred from location where it does not — treat the inferred entries as a strong indication, not documentation. 135 cameras have no operator recorded.
It isn't all Flock
“Flock” has become shorthand for any plate reader — and in New York the shorthand is simply wrong. Flock is not the largest vendor here, and it is nowhere near a majority.
Ekin
505 cameras
Flock Safety
397 cameras
Leonardo
249 cameras
Genetec
170 cameras
Motorola Solutions
108 cameras
Redspeed Redcurb
104 cameras
Mav (IQ:350XR)
102 cameras
Kapsch
33 cameras
Mobotix
31 cameras
Rekor
29 cameras
Axis Communications
17 cameras
Neology
14 cameras
This table counts mapped cameras rather than procurement records. A further 8 manufacturers fall below the twelve shown. A manufacturer tag is optional in the source data and 73 of 1,871 cameras here have none, so treat the split as indicative. Vendor names have been merged across spelling and legal-entity variants.
Where they sit, and which way they face
672 of the 1,871 mapped cameras around New York record which way they point, which is what makes routing around them possible.
Most plate readers look alike once you know the shape: a compact rectangular housing partway up a narrow pole, usually paired with a solar panel and a stubby cylindrical lens, sited close to a junction. The mountings recorded around New York break down like this:
On a dedicated pole
995 cameras
On an overhead gantry
121 cameras
On a street lamp
88 cameras
On traffic signals
62 cameras
On a post
9 cameras
On a bridge
8 cameras
On a building
3 cameras
A reader only captures traffic moving through its own cone, so which way it faces determines which journeys it logs. Across New York the recorded bearings distribute like this:
Facing north
111 cameras
Facing east
98 cameras
Facing south
90 cameras
Facing northwest
83 cameras
Facing southwest
75 cameras
Facing southeast
72 cameras
Facing northeast
72 cameras
Facing west
71 cameras
Direction is taken from public map data. It marks an approximate capture zone and never an exact field of view — the true angle is not published by anyone. 1,199 of the mapped cameras record no bearing at all, and 2 are tagged omnidirectional.
Seeing the cameras is free. Avoiding them is the app.
Every camera on this map reads plates from one direction — the cone shows its approximate capture zone. BanditKin's private navigation uses those cones to route around cameras when you ask it to, with a strength slider you control. When a camera-free route doesn't exist, it says so honestly and falls back to the normal route.
New to this? Read what ALPR cameras capture, how long it's kept, and who can search it. Not in New York? Search the full map by any city, or see what BanditKin costs — free during early access.
ALPR camera maps for other cities: Houston · Atlanta · Los Angeles · San Francisco · Dallas · Chicago · Detroit · Denver · Kansas City · Cleveland · Charlotte · Columbus
New York ALPR questions
How many Flock cameras does New York have?
Public map data records 1,871 ALPR cameras around metro New York as of 3 August 2026, run by 101 separate operators. Unusually, Flock Safety is not the largest vendor here: 505 are tagged Ekin against Flock's 397, with Leonardo, Genetec and Motorola Solutions behind them. That count is a floor, not a full inventory — cameras appear on the map as people map them, and 73 carry no manufacturer tag at all. The map area is a box around Manhattan, so it also covers nearby New Jersey communities.
Where are Flock cameras in New York?
The live map above shows 1,871 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?
Mostly transport agencies rather than police. The New York City Department of Transportation is the largest mapped operator with 575 cameras, ahead of the NYPD's 263, the MTA Police Department's 144 and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's own 107. Beyond those, the map records 101 distinct operators in total, including New Jersey departments such as Sayreville, Fort Lee and Secaucus. The EFF Atlas of Surveillance documents only two agencies in this area — the NYPD and the MTA Police Department — so public records capture a small fraction of what the map shows.
Can I avoid Flock cameras when driving in New York?
Yes, as an opt-in setting. 672 of New York’s 1,871 mapped cameras have a recorded facing, which is what makes routing around them possible at all — the lowest share of any metro on this site, so expect less to work with here. BanditKin’s navigation is field-of-view-aware and has a strength slider; when no camera-free route can be found it tells you and falls back to the normal route. The framing is a privacy preference — not being logged by a commercial surveillance network on public roads — using 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.