The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has extended a temporary restriction on drone flights that was initially applied to 22 regions in New Jersey, expanding it to cover 30 areas in New York, including parts of New York City and Long Island.
The new restricted zones include locations in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Calverton, Commack, Far Rockaway, Garden City, Glenwood Landing, Hicksville, Holbrook, Holtsville, Lynbrook, Melville, New Castle, New Hyde Park, Manhattan, Northport, Oceanside, Queens, Ridge, Roslyn Heights, Setauket, Shoreham, Staten Island, and Yonkers.
These restrictions, requested by federal security agencies, are effective through mid-January to protect key infrastructure, as announced by Governor Kathy Hochul.
“Since mid-November, New York has been carefully monitoring reports of drone activity, and we have been communicating closely with our federal partners. I’ve spoken with Secretary Mayorkas multiple times and was just informed that he has coordinated with federal partners and the FAA plans to grant temporary flight restrictions over some of New York’s critical infrastructure sites — this action is purely precautionary; there are no threats to these sites,” Hochul stated.
“This is in addition to the state-of-the-art drone detection system delivered to us by the Biden-Harris Administration earlier this week. While we have not detected any public safety or national security threats, we will continue aggressively monitoring the situation as we call on Congress to pass legislation to give states and local law enforcement the authority and resources they need to manage this evolving technology. Public safety is my top priority, and I will stop at nothing to keep my constituents safe,” she added.
If pilots violate these restrictions, they may be “intercepted, detained, and interviewed by […] law enforcement/security personnel,” and could face civil fines, criminal charges, or the loss of their operating certificates.
National security officials indicated this week that the drones spotted in various locations do not appear to be linked to foreign interference or a public safety risk. However, they acknowledged that they cannot definitively identify those responsible for the increase in drone sightings across parts of New Jersey, New York, and other eastern U.S. regions.
{Matzav.com}