Sit on the Left side of the plane for the best views on flights from Singapore to New York. Left side wins at both ends of the flight. Over Southeast Asia during climb-out you get the Johor Strait and Malaysian coast, and on arrival into JFK the Manhattan skyline is squarely on the left. For the long overwater transpacific and polar routing the difference is minimal, but the bookend views strongly favor left.

During takeoff from Seletar (XSP), sit on the Left side for the best views. Seletar's runway 03 departure heads roughly north, putting the left side facing west over the Johor Strait and peninsular Malaysia. You get a clear view of the Johor Bahru waterfront and the causeway linking Singapore to Malaysia, plus the dense urban grid of northern Singapore below. Notable sights include: Johor-Singapore Causeway, Johor Bahru city waterfront, Straits of Johor, Bukit Timah hill mass to the southwest.

When landing at John F Kennedy International (JFK), sit on the Left side for the best views. JFK's most common arrival on runway 31L/31R brings aircraft in from the southeast over Jamaica Bay, and the left side faces northeast toward Manhattan. The entire Lower Manhattan and Midtown skyline is visible across the bay, along with the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and Brooklyn below. Notable sights include: Manhattan skyline (Lower Manhattan and Midtown), Jamaica Bay, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, Brooklyn waterfront.

The flight from Seletar (XSP) to John F Kennedy International (JFK) takes Approximately 19-21 hours depending on routing (typically via Tokyo or Anchorage/polar route).

Routing typically goes north over peninsular Malaysia, across the South China Sea, over southern China and eastern China coast, then northeast across Japan and the North Pacific Ocean. A polar or sub-polar routing continues over the Aleutian Islands chain, the Gulf of Alaska, and the Canadian Rockies before descending over the Great Lakes region and the northeastern US seaboard into New York.