Watching the New York City Marathon: where to stand and how to get around
Free, the first Sunday of November, and through all five boroughs — the one day the whole city is on the same street. Where to stand in each borough, how to move between them on the subway, and what not to do.
- When
- October 31, 2026
- Cost
- Free to watch
- Where
- The five boroughs, Staten Island to Central Park, Central Park West & West 67th Street, New York, NY 10023
- Official site
- nyrr.org
The marathon starts on Staten Island at the foot of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, runs up through Brooklyn, crosses into Queens, goes over the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, up First Avenue into the Bronx, and back down through Harlem to finish in Central Park. Fifty thousand runners, two million people on the streets, and it is completely free to watch from anywhere on the course except the finish grandstands. It is the first Sunday of November every year, and it is the single best day to be a visitor in New York.
Most spectators make the same mistake: they go to First Avenue in Manhattan, which is twenty people deep for three miles, and see nothing. The course is twenty-six miles long and most of it is in the other boroughs, where you can stand at the barrier. This page says where.
The rule of the day: the subway is free of the course — it runs underneath — so you can see the runners in Brooklyn, ride to Manhattan, see them again, and ride to the finish. Plan it with the official spectator map and the runner-tracking app, and pick two or three spots, not six.
The list
Brooklyn Bridge ParkFree
DUMBO / Brooklyn Heights · Brooklyn
Not on the course, but the first viewing spots are: Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn from Bay Ridge to Park Slope, miles two to eight, is the widest, friendliest, least crowded stretch, with the runners still fresh and the neighborhood bands out. The R train runs under it — get off anywhere between 53rd Street and Union Street.
WilliamsburgFree
Williamsburg · Brooklyn
Bedford Avenue through Williamsburg and Greenpoint, around miles eleven to thirteen, is a narrow, loud, close-up stretch — you can read the names on the bibs. The L to Bedford Avenue, or the G to Nassau Avenue for Greenpoint. From here the L back to Manhattan beats the runners there.
Gantry Plaza State ParkFree
Long Island City · Queens
Long Island City gets the course for one mile, around mile fourteen, between the Pulaski Bridge and the Queensboro, and it is quiet — the 7 to Vernon Boulevard–Jackson Avenue and walk to the course. Watch them go over the Pulaski, then take the 7 one stop into Manhattan and you are ahead of them on First Avenue.
HarlemFree
Harlem · Manhattan
Fifth Avenue through Harlem, around miles twenty-two and twenty-three, after the runners come back off the Willis Avenue Bridge from the Bronx: this is the hard part of the race and the crowd knows it. The 2 or 3 to 125th Street, or the 4, 5, 6 for the east side. Generous, loud, and not crowded.
Central ParkFree
Upper West Side / Upper East Side · Manhattan
The last two miles, in the park from 90th Street down the East Drive, across the south end and up to the finish at 67th Street on the west side. Free to watch from the park paths; the finish itself is ticketed grandstands. Enter from the east side on the 4, 5, 6; the west side is closed around the finish.
A two-spot plan
Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn in the morning — the R to Union Street, say — for the leaders around nine and the main field for the next two hours, then the R back under the river to Manhattan and a walk to Fifth Avenue in the 90s, or into Central Park, for the same runners three hours later. You will see the elites, the field and the finish, and you will have stood at the barrier both times.
What not to do
Do not try to cross the course: in Manhattan the crossing points are few and slow. Do not drive; the bridges and avenues are closed from early morning. Do not go to First Avenue in the 60s to 80s expecting to see anything. Do not plan to meet a runner at the finish — the family reunion area is blocks west and it takes them an hour to get there. And do not expect the Staten Island Ferry to be normal: it is full of runners from five in the morning.
Common questions
- Is it free to watch?
Yes, from anywhere on the twenty-six miles of public street, which is all of it except the grandstands at the finish in Central Park. Bring nothing but a layer — it is November — and a phone with the runner-tracking app if you are following someone. The subway is the only cost, and it runs normally; the course is on the surface.
- How do I get between boroughs on the day?
By subway, which runs under the course and is not affected by it. The R follows Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn and then goes to Manhattan; the L and G serve Williamsburg and Greenpoint; the 7 serves Long Island City and then Manhattan; the 4, 5, 6 serve the east side of Manhattan and the Bronx. Trains are crowded but moving. Buses are rerouted and slow; ignore them.
- Where do the runners start and can I watch the start?
In Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, at the foot of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge — a National Park Service site you can visit on any other day, and which is on this site. On marathon morning it is closed to spectators and the bridge is runners only; the first public viewing is in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, at the other end. Take the R to Bay Ridge–95th Street for the very first mile.
Who should skip this
Anyone who wants a quiet day in the city — a million people are on the streets, the avenues are closed, and the energy is the point; come another Sunday if that is not what you want.