Bill to Ban Drones in New York City Going to City Council
Perhaps in reaction to the recent mishap with the TGIFriday’s mistletoe drone slamming into a reporter’s face (or, again, finally getting around to watching The Terminator and internalizing a profound discomfort with technology going rogue and killing us all), Councilman Dan Garodnick is introducing a bill today that would ban the use of drones in New York City.
Garodnick, who makes an exception in the bill for NYPD drone-craft, cites the recent incidents in New York and New Jersey airports where pilots reportedly came close to colliding with rogue drones.
“The technology has gotten ahead of our regulations, and there are real privacy concerns,” Garodnick told the Daily News. “New York City is a densely populated area, which means there are also safety concerns with drones for property and people.”
“We’re trying to protect New Yorkers and set up some reasonable rules in advance of their proliferation,” he continued.
It’s not the only piece of drone legislation being considered by the council right now. (And, by the way, Drone Legislation is the name of my new scuzzcore band.) Councilman Paul Vallone is also introducing a bill, one that is a bit more lax: It would just set up a five mile drone-free radius around airports, schools, and hospitals. (But in a place as dense as New York, that amounts to a ban anyway, really.)
Under the bill, the NYPD would also have to produce a warrant in order to use drones for an operation. Probably a good thing, all of the events of 2014 considered.