Sutton Place/Turtle Bay North (Zone 229): Taxi Trip Data

Sutton Place/Turtle Bay North (TLC zone 229) is the typical central Manhattan zone in the trip data. In TLC trip records for September 2025 to August 2026, 2,037,284 trips started here (about 5,582 a day). That is exactly the middle value among the 55 Manhattan zones TLC labels "Yellow Zone". The median app driver pay, $18.15 per trip, also sits right in the middle of that group. Two things set it apart: Saturday is the busiest day, and riders arrive by yellow cab more than they leave by one.

Sutton Place/Turtle Bay North at a glance

On TLC's map the zone covers the east side of Midtown from about 48th Street up to 59th Street, out to the East River. It borders UN/Turtle Bay South (233), Midtown East (162), Upper East Side South (237), Lenox Hill West (141) and Lenox Hill East (140). It is one of 55 zones that TLC's lookup table tags "Yellow Zone", the group this page compares it with.

Yellow in, app out

The direction of travel differs by sector:

So yellow cabs bring about 147,000 more riders in than they take out, and app trips carry about 277,000 more out than in. The data does not say why.

When rides start

An average Saturday has about 6,478 pickups, more than a weekday (5,517) or a Sunday (5,008). The busiest hour of the week is Saturday at 7 p.m. (about 461), followed by 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. On weekdays the top hours are 6 p.m. (about 394), 7 p.m. and 8 a.m., so mornings and evenings are close. Sunday pickups peak around noon. About 16.5% of Sunday pickups happen between midnight and 5 a.m.

Month by month

December 2025 was the busiest month (189,083 pickups). August 2026 was the quietest (150,804), about 20% lower.

Where trips go

Trips mostly head north or west. The top destinations are Upper East Side South (5.4% of pickups), Midtown Center (4.2%), Lenox Hill East (3.9%), Lenox Hill West (3.7%) and Midtown East (3.7%). Trips ending outside New York City (TLC zone 265) are 3.2%, and LaGuardia 3.1%. Airports take 8.1% of app pickups, close to the group's middle value, and 1.8% of yellow pickups.

Fares and pay

Yellow trips: median 1.53 miles, 12.8 minutes and $13.50 on the meter, with a 24.2% card tip rate, near the top of the group. App trips: median 2.69 miles, 18.9 minutes and a $24.05 fare; driver pay $18.15 per trip (before tips and tolls) and an average tip of $1.94.

Congestion fee, the FDR Drive and the bridge

• MTA Congestion Relief Zone: we compared TLC's zone shape with the city's 60th Street centerline. Zone 229 lies entirely south of 60th Street, so it is inside the Congestion Relief Zone. As of 2026-10-12 the per-trip charge is $1.50 for app trips and $0.75 for taxi trips, on any trip to, from, within or through the zone. 99.5% of app pickups and 99.1% of yellow pickups were charged.
• FDR Drive: the MTA FAQ says vehicles that travel only on the FDR Drive are not tolled. The same FAQ says trips between the FDR Drive and the Queensboro Bridge are tolled. City street-centerline data puts part of the bridge's upper-level entrance roadway in this zone.
• NYS congestion surcharge: a Sutton Place trip that stays in New York State also carries the state surcharge, $2.50 (medallion taxi) or $2.75 (FHV) as of 2026-10-12 (tax department).
• Hail Exclusionary Zone: the zone is below East 96th Street (Chapter 51), so green cabs may not take hails here; only 89 green pickups were recorded in a year. For FHV street pickups, see 80-19(c)(2).

Stands near the zone

We found no stand inside zone 229. DOT's relief-stand dataset (updated October 1, 2026) lists none here, and current DOT sign records (nfid-uabd, updated October 11, 2026) show no taxi-stand sign inside it. The closest listed taxi stand is across Third Avenue, on its west side between 49th and 50th Streets. That side of the avenue is in Midtown East. DOT lists relief stands in two other neighbouring zones, UN/Turtle Bay South (East 41st Street) and Lenox Hill West (East 77th Street).

If you wait at the Third Avenue stand in a taxi, join at the back of the line (80-19(d)(4)) and do not cruise for fares within 100 feet of it (80-19(a)(4)(ii)). FHV drivers may not load at any taxi stand (80-19(d)(2)). More: taxi stand rules.