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Midtown North (TLC zone 163) is the strip of Midtown just south of Central Park. It is a high-value evening zone for app drivers. From September 2025 to August 2026 the zone had 3,073,674 pickups (about 8,421 a day), by TLC's trip records. Uber and Lyft had 63% of pickups and yellow taxis 36.9%. Weekday pickups peak from 6 to 9 p.m. The median app driver pay per trip, $21.59, is among the highest in Manhattan. DOT records show taxi-stand signs on eight blocks of the zone.
Midtown North at a glance
On TLC's zone map, zone 163 sits between Central Park to the north and Times Square and Midtown Center to the south. Its northern edge is at about 59th Street. It touches seven zones: Central Park (43), Upper East Side South (237), Lincoln Square East (142), Clinton East (48), Times Sq/Theatre District (230), Midtown Center (161) and Midtown East (162). Its service_zone label is "Yellow Zone". That is a TLC data tag, not a legal area.
When rides start and end
On weekdays, trips arrive in the morning and leave in the evening. Weekday drop-offs peak at 8 a.m. (about 552) and 9 a.m. Weekday pickups climb slowly through the day and then jump in the evening: 6 p.m. (about 694), 8 p.m. (about 696) and 9 p.m. (about 659) are the top hours. The 4–6 p.m. hours average about 1,821 pickups, more than twice the 7–9 a.m. total (about 837).
Saturdays peak a little earlier, at 6–7 p.m. Sundays are flat from 4 to 6 p.m. About 12.4% of Sunday pickups happen between midnight and 5 a.m.
Month by month
October 2025 was the busiest month (292,884 pickups) and August 2026 the quietest (221,220), about 24% lower. January and February 2026 were also quiet.
Where trips go and where they come from
The top destination is outside New York City (TLC zone 265, 4.8% of pickups). Next come Upper East Side South (4.2%), Midtown Center (4.1%) and LaGuardia Airport (4.1%). Airports overall take 10.7% of app pickups but only 3.3% of yellow pickups.
Arrivals show the airport link even more. LaGuardia is the 2nd most common origin for trips ending here, with 4.5% of drop-offs, just behind Upper East Side South (4.6%).
Fares and pay
App trips from here are worth more than in most of Manhattan. The median app fare is $32.08 (2.78 miles, 21 minutes) and the median driver pay is $21.59. The app tip rate is 6.4% and the average tip is $2.84. Yellow trips are short: median 1.51 miles, 13 minutes, $13.50 on the meter, with a 24.2% card tip rate.
Congestion fee and hail lines
- MTA Congestion Relief Zone: by our check against the 60th Street centerline, the zone's northern edge is about 59th Street, so all of zone 163 is inside the Congestion Relief Zone ("south of and including 60 Street"). The rider pays the charge on every zone trip: $1.50 for app trips and $0.75 for taxis and green cabs, as of 2026-10-12. It showed up on 99.6% of app pickups. See the rate card.
- NYS congestion surcharge: a zone 163 taxi trip adds $2.50 and an app trip $2.75 (as of 2026-10-12) when the ride starts and ends in New York State.
- Hail Exclusionary Zone: green cabs recorded only 108 pickups here in a year. The zone is in TLC's Hail Exclusionary Zone, where they may not take hails. FHV drivers caught taking a street hail here face 80-19(c)(2): $500 for a first violation.
Taxi stands, a relief stand and FHV-only signs
DOT's current sign records (nfid-uabd, updated October 11, 2026) show taxi-stand signs on 8 street segments in this zone. Two are on the south side of Central Park South. Signs on the west side of Eighth Avenue and the south side of West 54th Street belong to the neighbouring zones, Clinton East and Times Square. The records also show two segments signed "For-hire vehicles only" for weekday evenings. DOT's relief-stand dataset lists one taxi/FHV relief stand, on Sixth Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets (3 spaces).
Taxi drivers at any stand must join at the back and not overcrowd it (80-19(d)(4)), and the first two cabs keep a driver in the seat (80-19(d)(6)). Cruising for fares within 100 feet of a stand is also banned (80-19(a)(4)(ii)). App drivers may not load at these stands (80-19(d)(2)), but the Sixth Avenue relief stand is open to them for up to one hour (DOT).
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.
- Midtown North: trip facts by sector — Key trip facts for taxi zone 163 (Midtown North, 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.
- Midtown North: when trips start, by hour — Average pickups per day in each hour in zone 163, 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.
- Midtown North: pickups by month — Trips starting in taxi zone 163 (Midtown North, Manhattan) each month, by sector.NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026
- Midtown North: where trips from here go — Top drop-off zones for trips starting in zone 163, 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 3,073,674 pickups. 'Outside NYC' = zone 265.
- Midtown North: where trips to here come from — Top pickup zones for trips ending in zone 163, 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 2,650,977 drop-offs.
- Midtown North: when trips arrive, by hour — Average drop-offs per day in each hour in zone 163, 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).
- Midtown North: drop-offs by month — Trips ending in taxi zone 163 (Midtown North, 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
Where are the taxi stands in Midtown North?
Current DOT sign records show taxi-stand signs on 8 street segments in zone 163. They include two blocks on the south side of Central Park South between Seventh Avenue and Grand Army Plaza, West 54th and West 58th Streets, both sides of Seventh Avenue at 55th–56th Streets, Sixth Avenue and Park Avenue. The table on this page lists each one.
How much do app drivers make per trip from Midtown North?
The median app driver pay for trips starting here was $21.59 in the 12 months to August 2026, before tips and tolls. That is 8th highest of the 52 Manhattan 'Yellow Zone' zones with enough data. The average app tip was $2.84.
Is Midtown North in the congestion zone?
Yes. By our check, the whole zone lies south of 60th Street, so it is inside the MTA Congestion Relief Zone. 99.6% of app pickups and 99.1% of yellow pickups here were charged the per-trip fee.
Do many airport trips start or end here?
Yes, for app trips. 10.7% of app pickups went to an airport. LaGuardia was the 4th most common destination and the 2nd most common origin for trips ending in zone 163.
Sources
Last reviewed against the official sources on .
- NYC TLC Trip Record Data nyc.gov
- TLC Taxi Zone Lookup Table d37ci6vzurychx.cloudfront.net
- MTA: Congestion Relief Zone taxi and FHV tolls mta.info
- TLC Rules Chapter 80: Rules Applicable to All Drivers (PDF) nyc.gov
- TLC Rules Chapter 51: Definitions (PDF) nyc.gov
- NYS Department of Taxation and Finance: Congestion surcharge tax.ny.gov
- NYC Open Data: Street Centerline (CSCL, inkn-q76z) data.cityofnewyork.us
- NYC DOT: Taxi and FHV Relief Stands nyc.gov
- NYC Open Data: Taxi and FHV Relief Stands (DOT, vqu8-xef9) data.cityofnewyork.us
- NYC Open Data: Parking Regulation Locations and Signs (DOT, nfid-uabd) 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.