New York by helicopter, after dark

A night flight is the helicopter tour people remember longest: Midtown glittering, the Empire State Building floodlit, the bridges strung with lights. It also works differently from a daytime tour, starting with where it takes off.

Why night flights leave from New Jersey

The Downtown Manhattan Heliport allows sightseeing flights only from 10 AM to 5 PM, Monday to Saturday. After dark, tours fly from New Jersey: HeliNY's City Lights Skyline Experience from Linden Airport (4.7 from 664 reviews, from $330) and Charm Aviation's night tour from Essex County Airport in Fairfield ($334). Both fly 25 to 30 minutes: over the harbor to the floodlit Statue of Liberty, up the Hudson past the Financial District and Midtown, and on toward the George Washington Bridge.

Timing the evening

Night departures begin once it is dark, which means around 5 PM in December and after 8:30 PM in June. The first slot after full dark gives deep blue sky with the lights on; later slots are pure black. If you want both, the Sunset Flight from Linden ($444, 40 minutes) leaves at golden hour and comes back in city lights. Allow about two hours from Midtown to Linden, including NJ Transit from Penn Station and the 50-minute check-in; the Linden guide has the details.

Photos at night

Wear dark clothes so you do not reflect in the glass, press the lens close to the window, use night mode and shoot in bursts. Then put the phone down for a minute. One honest note from reviewers: the listing says 30 minutes, but some timed about 20 minutes in the air, so treat it as a short, intense experience.