The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a brief ban on drones for greater than two dozen areas throughout New York Metropolis, Lengthy Island and Westchester County as officers examine the hundreds of not too long ago reported drone sightings within the area.
The restrictions, issued on Friday by the FAA for “special security reasons,” are set to remain in impact till Jan. 19.
Impacted areas embody areas in all 5 boroughs, Suffolk and Nassau counties on Lengthy Island, and Yonkers and New Fortress in Westchester County.
Underneath the restrictions, unmanned plane techniques (UAS) should not permitted to function in these areas, until operators are granted specific authorities authorization. The restrictions cowl “some of New York’s critical infrastructure sites,” Gov. Kathy Hochul stated in a press release, including the motion is “purely precautionary.”
Whereas there are not any identified threats to public security, Hochul vowed to “continue aggressively monitoring the situation” whereas calling on Congress to cross laws giving native officers the sources and authority to higher reply to studies of drone exercise.
The restrictions got here because of a number of conversations Hochul had with Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. She stated they may work a “state-of-the-art drone detection system” the state obtained from the Biden administration earlier this week.
The most recent ban was introduced a day after the FAA issued comparable restrictions on greater than 20 cities and cities in New Jersey — the primary sweeping ban since residents started reporting mysterious drones over elements of the Backyard State within the days main as much as Thanksgiving.
Within the weeks since, the sightings have unfold to a number of states alongside the East Coast. On Tuesday, the FBI confirmed it had obtained greater than 5,000 tips on drone sightings within the tristate space.
An investigation by “trained visual observers” decided the sightings have included a mixture of lawful business drones, hobbyist and legislation enforcement drones, manned fixed-wing plane, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.
The FBI stated the exercise had thus far not introduced a nationwide safety or public security threat.
