Can You See the Statue of Liberty on a New York Night?
The short answer. Yes, from the water or from the air. The statue is floodlit after dark, and its gilded flame is lit too, but you cannot go ashore: the island is reached only on the park's own ferry, with its own tickets. At night you see it from a harbor cruise, from a helicopter, or across the water. The new york boat tours night that sail at sunset give you the statue in the last light and the skyline lit on the way back.
Why no evening lands on the island
The National Park Service puts it plainly: the statue is only accessible by ferry, and tickets are needed to board it. Statue City Cruises is the one concession, sailing from The Battery in Lower Manhattan and from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, and private boats may not dock. So no evening cruise, however close it passes, stops at the island, and no night flight lands there either.
That is less of a loss than it sounds. The pedestal and the crown need their own tickets, and the torch has never been open to anyone: it is reached by a narrow 40-foot ladder. What you come for at night is the figure itself, lit against the dark, and that you can see from the water at close range.
What you are looking at when it is lit
The statue is 305 feet 1 inch from the ground to the tip of the flame, about the height of a 22-story building, and in 1886 it was the tallest structure in New York City. It faces southeast, toward ships arriving in the harbor: it was built to be seen from the water.
- The flame. It is the second torch. The first corroded and was removed in 1984, and is now in the museum on the island. The new flame is copper gilded in 24-carat gold, and it is lit by floodlights at night.
- The copper. It is 3/32 of an inch thick, about two pennies together. It was the brown of a new penny in 1886, and took about thirty years to turn green.
- The tablet. It carries the date of independence in Roman numerals: July IV MDCCLXXVI.
- The chains. Broken chains lie at the statue's feet, but they cannot be seen from the ground.
How close each boat comes
Closest is the Harbor Lights cruise from West 42nd Street, $45 a person, which slows within about 100 feet of the statue in the golden hour for photographs, then turns for the East River and comes back under the lights. It carries a live guide and an app in nine languages.
The cheapest is the 90-minute sunset cruise from Pier 16, $27 a person, which goes out to the statue at sunset and back to South Street Seaport. It has music and an app audio guide, not a live guide. The golden-hour cruise from West 39th Street, $38, sails round the statue for two hours with a live guide, and its listing is clear that it does not land. Every boat, pier and sailing time is compared on our page of night boat tours.
| Way to see it | Fare | How close | Commentary | Starts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harbor Lights cruise | $45 | About 100 feet | Live guide and app | West 42nd Street |
| Sunset cruise | $27 | Out to it and back | App only | South Street Seaport |
| Golden-hour cruise | $38 | Round it | Live guide | West 39th Street |
| Shared helicopter | $330 | From above | The pilot | Linden, NJ |
| The free city ferry | Free | Across the harbor | None | Whitehall, Lower Manhattan |
All the cruises in the table are timed to the sunset, so their hour moves through the year. Weather and dark times has the sunset for every month, which tells you when yours will sail.
Timing it for the light
Every cruise in the table is timed to the sunset, so what you see depends on when in the evening you reach the statue. The Harbor Lights cruise gets there in the golden hour, on the way out, so you see the statue in the last of the sun rather than under the floodlights. The lit skyline comes on the way back. If you want the statue floodlit against a black sky, you need a later hour: the free ferry at any time after full dark, or a flight you book after dark. In December you have that by about 5pm; in June, not until after 9pm.
From the air
A helicopter sees the statue from above, with the harbor open around it. The shared flight from Linden, New Jersey takes off over Newark's airport and makes the statue and Ellis Island its first sight, before Lower Manhattan and the run up the Hudson. It costs $330 a seat, for 25 to 30 minutes in the air, at a time you choose.
The windows are shared between up to six, so where you sit matters. Choose a time after full dark if you want it floodlit, and read about the trip out to the airfields in our post on getting to New Jersey.
For free, across the water
The cheapest view of all is the Staten Island Ferry. It is free, it runs all night, and the crossing from Whitehall in Lower Manhattan takes about 25 minutes. It does not go close, but the crossing passes the statue across the harbor, with the skyline behind you. Take the boat back the same way from St. George.
From New Jersey, Liberty State Park looks back at Lower Manhattan across the harbor, and it is where the island ferry's other terminal is. More free views after dark are on things to do at night, and how each landmark looks lit is on the city lit up.
Choosing your view
- Closest, with a live guide: the Harbor Lights cruise from West 42nd Street.
- Lowest fare: the 90-minute sunset cruise from South Street Seaport.
- From above: a shared helicopter from New Jersey, at a time after full dark.
- No fare at all: the city's ferry from Whitehall, any hour of the night.
Wherever you start, the meeting-point map shows the piers and the airfields with their nearest stations.
Ways to see the statue lit up
NYC: Statue of Liberty Sunset Cruise Ticket
Ninety minutes from Pier 16 at South Street Seaport, out to the statue at sunset and back, with music and an app audio guide in nine languages rather than a live guide.
From $27 per person
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NYC Golden Hour Cruise (2hr)
Two hours from the NY Waterway terminal on West 39th Street, timed to sail through the sunset, round the statue and back with a live guide. A free bus runs to the pier.
From $38 per person
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New York City Skyline at Night Guided Tour
Four hours by minivan with a driver-guide from 7th Avenue, through the tunnel to the New Jersey waterfront for eight stops, the first a half hour on the harbor. Up to 13.
From $89 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: Choose the view you want, water, air or the free ferry, then check the sunset for your date. Every fare sits side by side on New York Night Tours.