Satellite Print of New York
The grid, the parks and the harbour — from 786 km up.
Choose any date from 1984 to today and we'll find the real satellite capture of New York City from that moment — then print it on archival matte art paper, framed and ready to hang.
Create Your New York Print
What New York looks like from orbit
New York is one of the most legible cities on Earth from orbit. Manhattan reads as a hard-edged wedge between two rivers, and the Commissioners’ grid of 1811 is so regular that it shows up as visible texture in the imagery. Central Park interrupts it as a clean green rectangle roughly 4 km long — at 10 m resolution it is unmistakable, and it is usually the first thing people find on their print.
What you can pick out in a New York print
At 10 metres per pixel, these are the features that read clearly on a framed New York print:
- Central Park — a sharp green rectangle cut into the Manhattan grid
- The Hudson and East Rivers framing Manhattan on both sides
- JFK, LaGuardia and Newark runways, clearly resolved as pale strips
- The Verrazzano-Narrows and George Washington bridges crossing open water
- Prospect Park and Brooklyn’s street pattern running at a different angle to Manhattan’s
The best time of year for a clear image of New York
September and October generally give the cleanest captures.
Early autumn brings the driest, least hazy air of the year over the northeast. Summer imagery is often softened by humidity haze, and winter scenes can be flattened by snow cover — though a clean snow-covered Manhattan is striking if that matches the date you need.
This only matters if your date is flexible. If you're printing a specific day — a wedding, a birth, the day you got the keys — we work with that date and find the clearest capture available in that month.
Frequently asked questions
How much detail can I see in a satellite print of New York?
Our New York prints use Sentinel-2 imagery at 10 metres per pixel, which means every pixel covers a 10 m square on the ground. You can clearly make out parks, rivers, major roads, runways, harbours and the shape of neighbourhoods. You cannot make out individual houses or cars — this is a portrait of a place, not a street-level photo.
Can I choose the exact date?
Yes. Pick any date from 1984 to the present and we search the satellite archive for a capture of New York from that moment. Dates from 2015 onward use Sentinel-2 at 10 m resolution; earlier dates use the Landsat archive at 30 m, which has a softer, more painterly quality.
What if it was cloudy over New York that day?
Satellites only pass overhead every few days, and cloud does sometimes obscure the exact date. When that happens we find the clearest capture within the same calendar month and tell you which date we used — we never silently substitute a different month. The best conditions over New York are typically september and october.
What sizes and finishes are available?
Framed prints come in 12×16", 18×24", 24×36" from $69 to $149, printed on archival matte art paper in a black frame. A full-resolution digital download is also available for $6 on its own or alongside a framed print.
Prints of other places
New York prints are popular for engagements, first apartments and people who moved away — but we can print anywhere on Earth, not just the cities below.
Giving a New York print as a gift
Your New York, on the day that mattered.
Framed prints from $69. Digital downloads from $6.
Create Your New York Print