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Central Harlem (TLC zone 41) is busiest on Saturday evenings and pays app drivers little per trip. In the 12 months to August 2026 it had 1,864,570 pickups (about 5,108 a day). The single busiest hour of the week is 6 p.m. on Saturday, and the median app driver pay of $13.01 per trip is the second lowest in Manhattan, because trips are short.
Source: TLC trip records (yellow, green, Uber/Lyft), summed by TLC Help. App "driver pay" is TLC's pay field, which leaves out tips and tolls.
Central Harlem at a glance
Zone 41 touches seven zones on TLC's map: Central Park (43) to the south, Bloomingdale (24), Morningside Heights (166), Manhattanville (152), Central Harlem North (42), East Harlem North (74) and East Harlem South (75). TLC's lookup calls it a "Boro Zone", which is a data label and not a legal line.
By our check of TLC's zone shape against the city's street centerline file, the zone starts at about 110th Street and lies west of Fifth Avenue. That puts it north of the West 110th Street hail line, in the Hail Zone.
When rides start and end
Weekdays have two near-equal peaks: about 311 pickups at 8 a.m. and about 323 at 6 p.m. Saturdays are the busiest days, with about 6,033 pickups against 4,931 on a weekday, and the 6 p.m. Saturday hour (about 372) tops the week. Sundays peak in mid-afternoon.
Drop-offs have one pattern of their own: on Sunday mornings they peak at 10 a.m. (about 284) and 9 a.m. (about 278), earlier than on any other day.
Through the year
September 2025 was the quietest month (139,941 pickups). December 2025 (164,684) and May 2026 (164,857) were the busiest. August 2026 was about 10% above September 2025.
Where trips go
Central Harlem North (10.8%) is the top destination, then East Harlem North (7.6%) and trips that stay in the zone (6.8%). Morningside Heights (5.3%) and East Harlem South (4.5%) follow. LaGuardia Airport is 10th (2.3%), and 4.3% of app pickups went to an airport overall. 10.9% of app pickups were charged the Congestion Relief Zone fee.
Fares, tips and pay
| From zone 41 | Yellow taxi | Green cab | App |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median fare (before tips, tolls, fees) | $18.42 | $10.70 | $15.27 |
| Median miles | 2.75 | 1.49 | 2.22 |
| Tip rate | 11.7% (card trips) | 19.6% (card trips) | 4.3% |
The median app trip is just 2.22 miles and 13.9 minutes. That is why pay per trip is low: $13.01 median, against a $14.98 median for Manhattan's "Boro Zone" zones. App tips average $0.94 a trip.
Curb signs and pickup rules
DOT's parking-sign data (updated October 11, 2026) lists one sign of interest to drivers in this zone: "Taxi/FHV Pick-Up/Drop-Off Only" on the east side of St. Nicholas Avenue between West 124th and West 125th Streets. The sign reserves that curb for taxi and FHV pick-ups and drop-offs; read the full posted sign for any limits. DOT's relief-stand data lists no relief stand here. Nearby ones are on West 127th Street in Manhattanville and East 116th Street in East Harlem North. See curb rules for pickups and drop-offs.
- Green cabs may take hails here, because the zone is in the Hail Zone (Chapter 51). Just south, the Central Park zone lies below 110th Street, where the rule is different.
- For-hire drivers need a pre-arranged trip (80-19(c)(1)).
- Congestion charges start south of 96th Street (NYS surcharge) and at 60th Street (MTA). Trips within Harlem pay neither.
Nearby zones
Data on this page
Aggregates of public data. They describe trips and vehicles, never individual people.
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. 'Fare' is the metered fare_amount for taxis and base_passenger_fare for app trips — before tolls, tips, taxes and surcharges — so it is not what the passenger paid in total. App driver_pay is TLC's 'total driver pay (not including tolls or tips and net of commission, surcharges, or taxes)'. Tips are separate. 'Per engaged hour' divides pay by passenger time only (pickup to drop-off). It leaves out time driving to pickups and waiting for requests, so real hourly earnings are lower; it is not the TLC minimum-pay formula. Monthly cells with 1–9 trips are shown as blank (null). Pairs with fewer than 10 trips are not listed.
- Central Harlem: trip facts by sector — Key trip facts for taxi zone 41 (Central Harlem, Manhattan) by sector, 12 months.NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026Taxi tips: tip_amount records credit-card tips only (cash tips are not recorded), so taxi tip rates use credit-card trips (payment_type 1). App tips are the tips field on every trip. Tip rate = tips ÷ fare. Medians and rates need at least 250 trips in the cell (else blank); counts of 1–9 are blank. Pickup-side stats (fare, pay, tips) describe trips that START here.
- Central Harlem: when trips start, by hour — Average pickups per day in each hour in zone 41, on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays (all sectors).NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026Average over all such days in the window, holidays included.
- Central Harlem: pickups by month — Trips starting in taxi zone 41 (Central Harlem, Manhattan) each month, by sector.NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026
- Central Harlem: where trips from here go — Top drop-off zones for trips starting in zone 41, as a share of all its pickups (12 months, all sectors).NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026Out of 1,864,570 pickups. 'Outside NYC' = zone 265.
- Central Harlem: where trips to here come from — Top pickup zones for trips ending in zone 41, as a share of all its drop-offs (12 months, all sectors).NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026Out of 1,779,729 drop-offs.
- Central Harlem: when trips arrive, by hour — Average drop-offs per day in each hour in zone 41, on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays (all sectors; hour of pickup).NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026Hour is the trip's pickup hour (TLC records both, but a trip is binned by when it started).
- Central Harlem: drop-offs by month — Trips ending in taxi zone 41 (Central Harlem, Manhattan) each month, by sector.NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026
- All 263 taxi zones: trips and key facts (map-ready) — One row per TLC taxi zone (LocationID 1–263) with pickups, drop-offs, sector mix, app driver pay, fares and tip rates — the source for zone maps, hubs and the zone explorer.NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026Medians/rates need ≥250 trips (else null). labels are LocationIDs as strings; zones[] has names, boroughs, service_zone (from taxi_zone_lookup.csv), suggested slugs and neighbouring zone ids (shared boundary, from taxi_zones.zip).
Frequently asked questions
How busy is Central Harlem for taxi and app drivers?
It had 1,864,570 pickups from September 2025 to August 2026, about 5,108 a day. 87% were app trips, 11.6% yellow taxi and 1.0% green cab. Saturdays are the busiest days, with about 6,033 pickups.
Is there a special pickup zone for taxis and FHVs in Central Harlem?
DOT's sign data lists a 'Taxi/FHV Pick-Up/Drop-Off Only' sign on the east side of St. Nicholas Avenue between West 124th and West 125th Streets. It reserves that curb for taxi and FHV pick-ups and drop-offs. Read the full posted sign for any limits.
How much do app drivers make per trip here?
The median app driver pay is $13.01 per trip, before tips and tolls, the second lowest of any Manhattan zone. The median trip is 2.22 miles and 13.9 minutes. Tips average $0.94.
Can green cabs take hails in Central Harlem?
Yes. The Hail Exclusionary Zone stops at West 110th Street on the west side. By our check of TLC's zone map, Central Harlem lies north of it. Green cabs had 18,795 pickups here, 7th most of any NYC zone.
Sources
Last reviewed against the official sources on .
- NYC TLC Trip Record Data nyc.gov
- TLC Taxi Zone Lookup Table d37ci6vzurychx.cloudfront.net
- TLC Rules Chapter 51: Definitions (PDF) nyc.gov
- TLC Rules Chapter 80: Rules Applicable to All Drivers (PDF) nyc.gov
- NYC Open Data: Parking Regulation Locations and Signs (DOT, nfid-uabd) data.cityofnewyork.us
- NYC Open Data: Taxi and FHV Relief Stands (DOT, vqu8-xef9) data.cityofnewyork.us
- NYC Open Data: Street Centerline (CSCL, inkn-q76z) data.cityofnewyork.us
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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.