JRA-Spot1
New York West 30th Street Heliport – Spotting Guide
West 30th Street Heliport (JRA/KJRA), also known as BLADE West Heliport is locatetd on Manhattan Island, New York City. The heliport opened with two landing pads in 1956 and in December, New York Airways began scheduled passenger flights. These days, Blade Helicopters uses the pad mainly for shuttle flights to Newark and JFK Airport, but there are other operators as well such as FlexJet Vertical.
While there is quite a bit of traffic during the morning hours, this helipad is pretty quiet throughout the day. It gets especially busy on friday evenings, plus over the weekend: especially sunday afternoon bringing back rich New Yorkers from Hamptons or similar once the other two helipads are closed.
As of 2026, there are construction works going on south of the heliport for a new tunnel below the Hudson causing quite a lot of disturbance in the photos as you cannot see the helipad/ground itsself right now, only once the helicopters are airborne. Additionally, the Hudson park and southern helipads have been converted to stuff/container storage right now.
Written by Maximilian Ruehmer-Junghardt and Severin Hackenberger. Last Update: August 2026
| Rating | |
| Movements |  |
| Photo Locations | |
| Weather | |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Not needed. |
| Car/Public Transport | Difficult to find a free parking lot so walking or public transport is better. Closest metro station is Hudson Yards. |
| Drinks/Food | There are two restaurants at the Pier. Hudson Yards is less than 10 minutes away by walking and it has plenty of food options |
| Hotels | There are a few in a 30 minute walking range or less than 15 minute car ride |
| Season | Not particularly but there is a bit of haze on the hot summer days from location 2. |
| Security | You will be fine as long as you don’t take pictures of those entering or getting in the helicopters. Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons are good with a decent amount of helicopter movements in a shorter period. |
| Runway Usage | |
| General Info | For approaches: most of them will fly over the Hudson, turn in 90 degree, head directly towards the helipad and land (BLADE on northern pads, non BLADE ones rather on the southern ones)
For takeoffs: nearly all of them go vertical for a few meters and then head a few meters out to the Hudson and then towards their respective destination, some non-BLADE helicopters may also roll to the edge of the heliport, face southeast and have a shallow climb. |
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Spot #1 – Hudson River Park |
|---|---|
| WHERE | At the northern end of the Hudson River Park, across from 29th Street. To get there, walk along the Hudson River Park and once you are facing north and looking at the Southern-most windsock you are in the right spot. Parking is available in the nearby streets.
|
| WHAT | Take-offs and landings of Non-BLADE helicopters. The Helicopters will be going vertically over a fence, a wind sock may be in your picture depending on the angle, but no ladder is needed |
| TIME | Noon to dusk. |
| MISC. | There are benches at the park to sit down and relax. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Around 50-100mm |
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Spot #2 – Pier 66 |
|---|---|
| WHERE | Pier 66 at Hudson River Park is the best location to get all movements. To get to the spot you walk along the Hudson River Park and Follow signs for Pier 66. There are many spots to choose from but the two best ones are at the end of the pier and close to the middle of it. There is a small railing and no ladder is needed. Parking is available in the nearby streets. |
| WHAT | Everything is visible from this spot. |
| TIME | Noon-Dusk |
| MISC. | There may be some sailboats in your way. There are benches at the park to sit down and relax. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 250-400mm |
|
Spot #3 – Highline |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This spot is located on the Highline walkway crossing the Long Island Railroad “train parking area” close to the Vessel. Simply walk up the Highline west of the Vessel and position yourself here in the curve along the front.
|
| WHAT | Mostly frontal views of all movements, except the ground itsself. |
| TIME | In the morning hours. Keep in mind, that sun will take some hours to get over the skyscrapers east of you. |
| MISC. | Ground is not visible due to the trees. No shadow directly here, but down on the ground as well as some food carts. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Should be 100-300mm |
We have no examples yet, but the view looks like THIS.
View from the wetsernmost accessible spot of the Highline westwards:
At the time of writing this comment they seem to be expanding the heliport on the southside, so i had to spot at the terminal entrance and the very kind staff let me spot here with no problem at all.