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Overnight Pickup Hotspots: Midnight to 5 a.m.

Where NYC taxi and Uber/Lyft pickups happen between midnight and 5 a.m.: top zones, Friday and Saturday nights vs weeknights, and taxi vs app share.

  • Reviewed
  • 3 min read
  • 3 official sources

Data used

On this page (8)
  1. The numbers at a glance
  2. The top 20 overnight zones
  3. Weekend nights vs weeknights
  4. Share by industry
  5. Rules that matter more at night
  6. What the data can't tell you
  7. FAQ
  8. Sources

In short: Between midnight and 5 a.m., NYC's busiest pickup zones are nightlife areas: the East Village (about 1.01 million overnight pickups in a year), the Lower East Side, the West Village, Bushwick and Williamsburg. JFK Airport, at number 3, is the only airport in the top five. Friday and Saturday nights have about 2.5 times as many overnight pickups as other nights. In the East Village and Lower East Side, the gap is more than 5 times. Overnight trips are 10.5% of all pickups, and apps make 88% of them. Data: TLC trip records, September 2025 – August 2026.

"Overnight" here means trips that start between 12:00 a.m. and 4:59 a.m. "Weekend nights" means Saturday and Sunday mornings (so, Friday and Saturday nights). "Weeknights" means Monday to Friday mornings.

The numbers at a glance

  • 31.4 millionPickups between midnight and 5 a.m.12 months, yellow + green + app
  • 10.5%Share of all pickups that start overnight
  • 2.5×Weekend nights vs weeknightsabout 152,000 vs 60,000 overnight pickups
  • 1,010,888Overnight pickups in the East Villagethe top zone

Overnight pickups by taxi zone (midnight – 5 a.m.)

Yellow, green and app pickups starting between 12:00 and 4:59 a.m., September 2025 – August 2026. Darker = more overnight pickups.

  • 5 – <22K
  • 22K – <55K
  • 55K – <96K
  • 96K – <180K
  • 180K – 1M
  • No data
Show data table (261 zones)
ZoneBoroughValue

Source: TLC Trip Record Data, Sep 2025 – Aug 2026, counted by TLC Help

Zone boundaries: NYC TLC taxi zones (LocationID 1–263).

The top 20 overnight zones

Top 20 zones for pickups from midnight to 5 a.m.

Per-night averages: weeknights = Monday–Friday mornings (261 in the period); weekend nights = Saturday and Sunday mornings (104). 'Share of zone' = overnight pickups as a percent of all the zone's pickups.

20 rows
East Village1,010,8881,2516,58225%32.4%
Lower East Side871,9311,0665,70928.9%25%
JFK Airport630,8371,8221,49410.8%23.9%
West Village630,1728923,82020.3%35.9%
Bushwick South616,9379203,62321.4%3.3%
Bushwick North537,0707843,19725.9%3.3%
Clinton East513,2859682,50615.7%25.9%
Williamsburg (North Side)501,7926263,25319.3%8.2%
Times Sq/Theatre District496,9631,1631,86011.8%18.9%
Greenwich Village South481,8636622,97223.4%37%
East Williamsburg472,9125943,05623.2%5.2%
Midtown South464,6718482,33914.1%20.1%
LaGuardia Airport426,7031,3337597%15.2%
Crown Heights North422,4098052,04012.6%1.6%
Union Sq396,5496662,14210.8%24.1%
Williamsburg (South Side)376,6295652,20417.3%5.6%
Little Italy/NoLiTa372,2704952,33817.2%28.5%
East Chelsea363,4926991,7419.8%25.5%
Astoria355,6056621,75713.9%4.2%
Midtown Center330,3039138847%17.3%

Source: TLC Trip Record Data, Sep 2025 – Aug 2026, counted by TLC Help

The list has three kinds of places:

  • Nightlife zones in lower Manhattan: the East Village, Lower East Side, West Village, Greenwich Village South and Little Italy/NoLiTa. In the Lower East Side, 28.9% of all the zone's pickups in a year happen in these five hours.
  • North Brooklyn: Bushwick South and North, Williamsburg (North and South Side) and East Williamsburg. Bushwick North gets 25.9% of its pickups overnight.
  • Big all-day zones: JFK, LaGuardia, Times Square, Midtown South and Midtown Center. They are busy overnight because they are busy all the time; overnight is only 7–14% of their pickups.

Apart from the two airports, the top overnight zones outside Manhattan and Brooklyn were Astoria (355,605) and Jackson Heights (297,139) in Queens, and Mott Haven/Port Morris (194,032) in the Bronx.

Weekend nights vs weeknights

Average pickups in each overnight hour: weeknights vs weekend nights

All sectors. Weeknights = Monday–Friday mornings; weekend nights = Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Pickups per hour

12–1 a.m.1–2 a.m.2–3 a.m.3–4 a.m.4–5 a.m.
  • Weeknights
  • Weekend nights
Show data table
LabelWeeknightsWeekend nights
12–1 a.m.21,63646,709
1–2 a.m.12,95537,661
2–3 a.m.8,60128,309
3–4 a.m.7,22921,846
4–5 a.m.9,42717,562

Source: TLC Trip Record Data, Sep 2025 – Aug 2026, counted by TLC Help

On weeknights, pickups fall fast after midnight and reach their low point at 3–4 a.m. (about 7,200 an hour citywide), then start rising at 4 a.m. as the morning begins. On weekend nights they stay much higher: the 3–4 a.m. hour on a weekend night has about three times the pickups of the same hour on a weeknight.

The weekend jump is not the same everywhere. In the Lower East Side, East Village, Williamsburg (North Side) and East Williamsburg, weekend nights have more than 5 times the pickups of weeknights. In Midtown Center the two are about equal. At the airports it is reversed: LaGuardia averaged 1,333 overnight pickups on weeknights but 759 on weekend nights, and JFK 1,822 vs 1,494. See airport pickups by hour for the full airport day.

The whole day: trips by hour, weekdays vs weekends

Average trips starting in each hour. The overnight hours are the left end of each line.

Trips per hour

3am7am11am3pm7pm11pm
  • App, weekdays
  • App, weekends
  • Yellow, weekdays
  • Yellow, weekends
Show data table
LabelApp, weekdaysApp, weekendsYellow, weekdaysYellow, weekends
12am19,03339,4922,5857,181
1am11,60731,9401,3385,693
2am7,83824,2037584,083
3am6,70518,9065212,918
4am8,81415,5916081,954
5am12,86512,7931,1121,020
6am21,34315,1502,3831,313
7am32,90618,5974,4891,726
8am40,47922,3295,8952,536
9am35,34427,3945,7973,828
10am29,83831,2605,5784,901
11am28,22333,0935,8165,772
12pm28,55834,0766,1876,451
1pm29,85034,8196,4066,864
2pm32,86136,0887,0907,011
3pm33,59937,0817,4687,033
4pm34,85937,7077,6217,284
5pm38,80639,2338,7577,520
6pm40,02940,8429,1967,739
7pm38,41540,7918,0287,220
8pm36,48639,2007,5346,362
9pm35,56738,2477,8586,223
10pm34,66238,3237,0616,315
11pm30,22035,8385,2645,844

Source: NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · Data as of Oct 12, 2026. Aggregated by TLC Help from TLC trip records, Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 (pickup date; TLC publishes trip files about two months after the month ends and may revise them). 'App' = high-volume for-hire services (Uber, Lyft). Taxi records with a negative fare (reversals) are excluded. Averages, medians and rates use 'clean' trips only: 1 minute to 4 hours, more than 0 and under 150 miles, fare above $0 and under $1,000. Green cabs are omitted here (too few trips to read on the same scale); see trips-hour-of-week.

Share by industry

Apps made 27.6 million overnight pickups (88% of the total), yellow taxis 3.8 million (12%), and green cabs about 24,000. Overnight is a bigger part of the app business: 11.0% of all app trips start between midnight and 5 a.m., compared with 8.3% of yellow taxi trips and 4.6% of green cab trips.

Yellow taxis are strongest overnight in the Manhattan nightlife zones. They made 37.0% of overnight pickups in Greenwich Village South, 35.9% in the West Village and 32.4% in the East Village. In the Brooklyn nightlife zones the yellow share was only 3–8%. On weekend nights, yellow overnight pickups rise more than app pickups: about 3.8 times the weeknight level for yellow (21,828 vs 5,810 a night) and 2.4 times for apps (130,131 vs 53,997).

Trips by hour across the week, by sector

Monday 12 a.m. to Sunday 11 p.m. The tall overnight bumps are Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Trips per hour

Tue 3amWed 7amThu 11amFri 3pmSat 7pmSun 11pm
  • Yellow taxi
  • Green cab
  • App (high-volume FHV)
Show data table
LabelYellow taxiGreen cabApp (high-volume FHV)
Mon 12am2,0201618,110
Mon 1am1,038810,976
Mon 2am59157,457
Mon 3am44946,435
Mon 4am61068,604
Mon 5am1,1231112,557
Mon 6am2,3083620,346
Mon 7am4,1687530,658
Mon 8am5,3709337,870
Mon 9am5,2029232,794
Mon 10am5,0058627,769
Mon 11am5,2507826,063
Mon 12pm5,5878726,349
Mon 1pm5,7478327,425
Mon 2pm6,3269330,079
Mon 3pm6,6899930,805
Mon 4pm6,80011031,605
Mon 5pm7,70411834,685
Mon 6pm7,66510534,563
Mon 7pm6,4547731,532
Mon 8pm6,1155829,977
Mon 9pm6,0324828,718
Mon 10pm4,7783826,411
Mon 11pm3,1292421,941
Tue 12am1,8351415,273
Tue 1am84678,807
Tue 2am44945,825
Tue 3am29835,176
Tue 4am42457,654
Tue 5am9821012,191
Tue 6am2,3083621,112
Tue 7am4,5997933,171
Tue 8am6,14410040,905
Tue 9am6,08810035,421
Tue 10am5,7219229,167
Tue 11am5,8838827,129
Tue 12pm6,1999126,994
Tue 1pm6,3508928,437
Tue 2pm7,0179631,629
Tue 3pm7,37410532,330
Tue 4pm7,53711633,401
Tue 5pm8,78712537,362
Tue 6pm9,12811237,942
Tue 7pm7,6548435,013
Tue 8pm7,5856333,658
Tue 9pm8,2385332,986
Tue 10pm6,7064430,816
Tue 11pm4,1412824,933
Wed 12am2,1851617,119
Wed 1am1,019910,054
Wed 2am53846,653
Wed 3am37135,782
Wed 4am49458,066
Wed 5am1,0211112,495
Wed 6am2,4023621,561
Wed 7am4,7878233,958
Wed 8am6,46610142,003
Wed 9am6,29910236,567
Wed 10am5,9079430,175
Wed 11am6,0958928,203
Wed 12pm6,4179428,432
Wed 1pm6,6439129,499
Wed 2pm7,2089932,437
Wed 3pm7,55011133,229
Wed 4pm7,72212134,429
Wed 5pm8,98912938,679
Wed 6pm9,50611739,862
Wed 7pm8,4608738,261
Wed 8pm8,1996636,806
Wed 9pm8,6765636,214
Wed 10pm7,5314734,460
Wed 11pm4,9603328,499
Thu 12am2,8972020,405
Thu 1am1,5581012,631
Thu 2am88578,821
Thu 3am61947,579
Thu 4am65269,511
Thu 5am1,1781113,453
Thu 6am2,5433622,067
Thu 7am4,7868033,922
Thu 8am6,3499641,702
Thu 9am6,1879836,612
Thu 10am5,8999030,867
Thu 11am6,1228929,377
Thu 12pm6,4829029,735
Thu 1pm6,7589231,214
Thu 2pm7,45110134,271
Thu 3pm7,93111135,116
Thu 4pm8,10312336,632
Thu 5pm9,47913840,821
Thu 6pm10,08212642,061
Thu 7pm8,8359140,746
Thu 8pm8,4126738,866
Thu 9pm8,9456138,078
Thu 10pm8,3665237,372
Thu 11pm6,3053732,641
Fri 12am4,0002224,278
Fri 1am2,2361315,581
Fri 2am1,329710,440
Fri 3am87048,558
Fri 4am858610,239
Fri 5am1,2561213,637
Fri 6am2,3543221,648
Fri 7am4,1126832,863
Fri 8am5,1558039,966
Fri 9am5,2217935,377
Fri 10am5,3708131,251
Fri 11am5,7427830,387
Fri 12pm6,2637831,319
Fri 1pm6,5457932,720
Fri 2pm7,4639735,942
Fri 3pm7,81110836,571
Fri 4pm7,95711838,290
Fri 5pm8,84612242,565
Fri 6pm9,63011545,824
Fri 7pm8,7688746,654
Fri 8pm7,3856543,249
Fri 9pm7,4366241,971
Fri 10pm7,9695844,409
Fri 11pm7,8284843,245
Sat 12am6,9273537,440
Sat 1am5,4322629,707
Sat 2am3,9612322,957
Sat 3am2,7362017,692
Sat 4am1,7541614,812
Sat 5am919912,633
Sat 6am1,2731115,569
Sat 7am1,7442119,473
Sat 8am2,6772924,212
Sat 9am3,9984429,155
Sat 10am4,9875532,097
Sat 11am5,8786534,171
Sat 12pm6,5357435,497
Sat 1pm6,9957736,575
Sat 2pm7,0467937,851
Sat 3pm7,3368639,541
Sat 4pm7,7878540,978
Sat 5pm8,2168543,597
Sat 6pm8,7658746,439
Sat 7pm8,5627548,037
Sat 8pm7,3936246,380
Sat 9pm7,3235645,356
Sat 10pm8,2025547,218
Sat 11pm8,4515246,384
Sun 12am7,4353841,544
Sun 1am5,9543034,173
Sun 2am4,2042525,448
Sun 3am3,1012220,120
Sun 4am2,1531916,370
Sun 5am1,1201212,953
Sun 6am1,3531414,731
Sun 7am1,7082217,722
Sun 8am2,3963120,447
Sun 9am3,6584525,632
Sun 10am4,8144930,424
Sun 11am5,6655932,016
Sun 12pm6,3667332,655
Sun 1pm6,7327433,064
Sun 2pm6,9768034,326
Sun 3pm6,7308234,621
Sun 4pm6,7818434,437
Sun 5pm6,8258034,869
Sun 6pm6,7138435,246
Sun 7pm5,8786933,544
Sun 8pm5,3315932,021
Sun 9pm5,1225031,139
Sun 10pm4,4293929,428
Sun 11pm3,2362725,292

Source: NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · Data as of Oct 12, 2026. Aggregated by TLC Help from TLC trip records, Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 (pickup date; TLC publishes trip files about two months after the month ends and may revise them). 'App' = high-volume for-hire services (Uber, Lyft). Taxi records with a negative fare (reversals) are excluded. Averages, medians and rates use 'clean' trips only: 1 minute to 4 hours, more than 0 and under 150 miles, fare above $0 and under $1,000. Each value = trips starting in that hour ÷ number of such weekdays in the window. Holidays are included.

Rules that matter more at night

Late-night crowds wave at every car. If you drive for Uber, Lyft or another base, a street pickup is illegal: §80-19(c)(1) of TLC Chapter 80 allows only trips arranged through a licensed base, with a first-violation fine of $200 to $350 (80-19(c)(1)). The City law version is §19-507(a)(4). FHV drivers also must not pick up at a taxi stand (80-19(d)(2), $350 for a first violation). For the full picture of who may pick up where, see who can pick up where in NYC. If a rider threatens or attacks you, see what to do after an assault.

What the data can't tell you

  • Earnings. A busy zone is not the same as a good one. This page counts pickups, not pay or waiting time.
  • Safety. Trip records have no information about incidents, so this data can't say which zones are safer at night.
  • Exact spots. A zone is an area; the data has no street address.
  • Who is missing. Non-app black car, livery and limo trips are not in these counts.
  • Revisions. TLC publishes trip files about two months late and may revise them.

Related: busiest pickup zones, trips between boroughs, and parking your TLC car overnight. More on the places hub.

Frequently asked questions

Where are the most pickups between midnight and 5 a.m. in NYC?

The East Village. It had 1,010,888 pickups starting between midnight and 5 a.m. from September 2025 to August 2026. The Lower East Side (871,931), JFK Airport (630,837), the West Village (630,172) and Bushwick South (616,937) came next.

How much busier are Friday and Saturday nights?

Across the city, the five hours after midnight averaged about 152,000 pickups on Saturday and Sunday mornings (Friday and Saturday nights), compared with about 60,000 on Monday to Friday mornings. That is about 2.5 times as many.

Are the airports busy overnight?

Yes, and they are the exception: JFK and LaGuardia have more overnight pickups on weeknights than on weekend nights. JFK averaged about 1,822 overnight pickups on weeknights and 1,494 on weekend nights.

Do yellow cabs or apps make more overnight pickups?

Apps, by far: 27.6 million of the 31.4 million overnight pickups. Yellow taxis made 3.8 million. Yellow cabs still made about a third of overnight pickups in the East Village, West Village and Greenwich Village South.

Sources

Last reviewed against the official sources on .

  1. NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026, aggregated by TLC Help nyc.gov
  2. TLC Taxi Zone Lookup Table d37ci6vzurychx.cloudfront.net
  3. TLC Rule Book, Chapter 80 (Drivers), updated June 6, 2025: §80-19(c)(1), §80-19(d)(2) nyc.gov

Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll check it against the official source.

TLC Help is not a law firm and is not affiliated with the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission or OATH. Explanations on this site are general information, not legal advice. Legal representation is provided by independent attorneys and OATH-registered representatives in our network.

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