Flying in New York City

[mediabymartin]

Now this might open up a can of worms.......I am a certified drone pilot for 5 years and am based in NYC.
As most of you guys probably know - It is illegal to fly drones in NYC, that includes all 5 boroughs with the exceptions of a handful parks with model aircraft fields.
I see many requests for drone jobs in NYC posted on Drones.io - who is flying these jobs?
You can also see many posts on YouTube that are shot in NYC.
Now I personally have concentrated all my business to Long Island and Connecticut and while there have been many discussions about how such a city ordinance would not hold up in court (NYC cannot override The FAA!), I don't want to be the one having to fight this one in court, have my drone confiscated or be arrested......
Wondering how other pilots in NYC feel about this?
I did a tv piece on this a few years back (see below) - looks like nothing has changed in 2021.
One reason I bought an Inspire 2 was to break into the movie/tv production - but everything shoots in NYC, so no legal flying possible - even the film permit office in NYC has no answer on how to approach this.
Love to hear some opinions !

 

[The Editor]

Moved to Certified section.

 

[The Editor]

Now this might open up a can of worms.......I am a certified drone pilot for 5 years and am based in NYC.
As most of you guys probably know - It is illegal to fly drones in NYC, that includes all 5 boroughs with the exceptions of a handful parks with model aircraft fields.
I see many requests for drone jobs in NYC posted on Drones.io - who is flying these jobs?
You can also see many posts on YouTube that are shot in NYC.
Now I personally have concentrated all my business to Long Island and Connecticut and while there have been many discussions about how such a city ordinance would not hold up in court (NYC cannot override The FAA!), I don't want to be the one having to fight this one in court, have my drone confiscated or be arrested......
Wondering how other pilots in NYC feel about this?
I did a tv piece on this a few years back (see below) - looks like nothing has changed in 2021.
One reason I bought an Inspire 2 was to break into the movie/tv production - but everything shoots in NYC, so no legal flying possible - even the film permit office in NYC has no answer on how to approach this.
Love to hear some opinions !

But you’re selling all your gear! ?

 

[mediabymartin]

Very observant ......but I am only selling my Inspire 2 as it is over kill for most of the jobs I do....still will be working as a drone pilot !

 

[atmosphericarts]

Now this might open up a can of worms.......I am a certified drone pilot for 5 years and am based in NYC.
As most of you guys probably know - It is illegal to fly drones in NYC, that includes all 5 boroughs with the exceptions of a handful parks with model aircraft fields.
I see many requests for drone jobs in NYC posted on Drones.io - who is flying these jobs?
You can also see many posts on YouTube that are shot in NYC.
Now I personally have concentrated all my business to Long Island and Connecticut and while there have been many discussions about how such a city ordinance would not hold up in court (NYC cannot override The FAA!), I don't want to be the one having to fight this one in court, have my drone confiscated or be arrested......
Wondering how other pilots in NYC feel about this?
I did a tv piece on this a few years back (see below) - looks like nothing has changed in 2021.
One reason I bought an Inspire 2 was to break into the movie/tv production - but everything shoots in NYC, so no legal flying possible - even the film permit office in NYC has no answer on how to approach this.
Love to hear some opinions !

I’m also a part 107 pilot out of NYC and have flown in all five boroughs. To be honest I do take jobs in certain areas of they city but choose my jobs and equipment wisely. In practice the only people getting in trouble are people that are being flagrant, reckless, or overly conspicuous. I don’t take any jobs below 125th St in Manhattan (unless I can fly exclusively over water) and I always try to launch from a rooftop or at least private property whenever possible. I’ve had some encounters with NYPD when I was just a recreational FPV flyer years ago, but as long as you didn’t hurt anybody, stay polite, pack up and leave when they ask you to you’ll probably be fine. I also tend to prefer my M2P for city flights since it’s so inconspicuous, but I’ve used the Inspire for some flights over the Hudson River.

I hope I don’t get roasted by the commenters for admitting to knowingly breaking an old city law, but I think if you demonstrate some common sense with these higher risk flights you should be fine. Your mileage may vary of course...