Dumbo on a New York Night: The Manhattan Bridge View
The short answer. Dumbo is the corner of Brooklyn under the Manhattan Bridge, where the bridge frames the Midtown towers and the whole of Lower Manhattan sits across the East River. Several evenings stop there, for 15 to 70 minutes. You can also go on your own: the F train to York Street, then walk back over the Brooklyn Bridge. Either way, a new york city night tour with a stop here gives you the view back at the city, not just the view up.
The name, and the district under the bridge
Dumbo stands for "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass". Before the Brooklyn Bridge opened the western part was Fulton Landing, the stop for the ferry to Manhattan. By the 1890s it was a district of warehouses and factories making machinery, paper boxes and soap pads. The cardboard box was invented here, in Robert Gair's building on Washington Street.
The warehouses are still there, and so are the cobbled streets, which is what makes the view work: an old industrial lane that ends in one of the most photographed bridges in the city. The Manhattan Bridge opened to traffic on 31 December 1909, and its main span is 1,480 feet between towers. Its deck carries seven traffic lanes and four subway tracks, so the rumble you hear overhead in Dumbo is a train crossing the river.
The view from Washington and Water Streets
Stand at the corner of Washington Street and Water Street and look north. The Manhattan Bridge fills the end of the street, and beneath it the bridge frames the Empire State Building, lit, across the river. It is the view on the poster for Sergio Leone's last film, Once Upon a Time in America, and several of its scenes were filmed here.
Toward the water, the waterfront parks open out on the East River. From there you look straight across at Lower Manhattan, with the Brooklyn Bridge to your left and the Manhattan Bridge to your right. At night both are lit, and the towers downtown fill the river with reflections. Which other landmarks you can see lit, and from where, is on the city lit up.
Which evenings stop there, and for how long
| Evening | Time in Dumbo | Fare | Starts | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closed-top bus | 20 minutes | $45 | 8th Avenue at 49th St | All year |
| Dumbo and Queens skyline | About 70 minutes | $38 | Pickup in Manhattan | All year |
| Spanish-guided lights | 15 minutes | $48 | West 49th Street | All year |
| Dyker Heights coach | 20 minutes | $49 | 7th Avenue at 51st St | December |
| Harbor Lights cruise | Passes it from the water | $45 | West 42nd Street | All year |
The longest stay is the Dumbo and Queens skyline evening, $38 a person: about 70 minutes on foot in Dumbo, then an hour on the Queens waterfront for the Midtown view. It collects from hotels and set points in Manhattan, and confirms your time with you beforehand.
The closed-top bus from 8th Avenue, $45 a person, crosses the Manhattan Bridge and gives you twenty minutes, after ten on 34th Street. The Spanish-guided lights evening gives Dumbo fifteen minutes among six stops. In December, the Dyker Heights coach from 7th Avenue ends its Christmas lights evening with twenty minutes here. Every evening built round the view back at the city is on our page of skyline night tours.
A stop on an evening, or an evening of your own
Twenty minutes is enough for the photograph and a look at the river, and it comes with the rest of the city on either side. On the closed-top bus you have already seen Midtown and 34th Street by the time you get off, and you get back on for the ride home. What you give up is time. If you want to walk the waterfront, sit and watch the lights, or wait for the sky to go fully dark, you need longer: the seventy minutes on the Dumbo and Queens evening, or an evening of your own.
Going on your own costs a subway fare and nothing else, and you choose the hour. It also means you find your own way over the cobbles after dark, and back again. If this is your first evening in the city, a stop on a guided evening is the easier start. If you have been here a few days, you will find it straightforward on your own. From the water, the Harbor Lights cruise passes Dumbo on its East River leg, so you can also see the district from the river.
Going on your own
Dumbo is easy to reach and free to stand in. The York Street station, at York and Jay Streets, is served by the F train at all times. Washington Street is a few blocks west, toward the river.
The best way back is on foot, over the Brooklyn Bridge. The city keeps its promenade open at all times, though parts of the walkway can be narrowed for works, and it brings you back into Lower Manhattan. It is the free version of the evening, and it pairs well with a harbor cruise on another night. More free evenings are on things to do at night.
- Get there: the F to York Street, then west to Washington Street.
- The photograph: Washington and Water Streets, looking north.
- The skyline: the waterfront, two blocks on.
- Get back: on foot over the river, or the F.
When to go
The view needs the lights on. In mid-June it is not fully dark until about 9pm, so a stop at 7:30 is a daytime view with the lights coming on. From November to February it is dark by 5:30pm, and any evening stop is under full lights. On a guided evening you do not choose when you reach Dumbo, so check the start time against the sunset before you pick your date. Weather and dark times has the sunset for every month, and the meeting-point map shows where each evening starts.
Evenings that stop in Dumbo
ICONIC New York City Skyline Night Tour: Dumbo & Long Island City
Three to four hours in a vehicle sized to the group, collected in Manhattan: about 70 minutes on foot in Dumbo and an hour on the Queens waterfront, skyline across the river.
From $38 per person
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Night Tour: New York City Lights
Three and a half hours with a Spanish-speaking guide from West 49th Street: six short stops, Dumbo among them, ending on 34th Street at about 10:30pm. Up to 13.
From $48 per person
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New York City: Dyker Heights Christmas Lights Tour
Four hours from 7th Avenue in December: an hour on foot among the lit houses of Dyker Heights, then Bay Ridge and 20 minutes in Dumbo. Spanish or English, by option.
From $49 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: Choose how long you want at the view, twenty minutes or seventy, then check the sunset for your date. Every fare sits side by side on New York Night Tours.