New York City

With Memorial Day marking the start of summer in many places, New York City Police officials got to work over the holiday weekend introducing drones that will keep watch over the beaches of coastal boroughs for the next four months.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) has taken full advantage the city’s announcement last summer to permit increased used of drones by official and enterprise operators, and is now planning to expand that UAV activity even more.

Though moves to ease the operation of drones in New York City only date to last July, municipal authorities are already so habituated to deploying UAVs when occasions arise that they immediately turned to their fleet in response to Friday’s 4.8 magnitude earthquake.

The wait for an official DJI retail store in the US is now over. DJI’s brand-new concept store, its first in North America, has opened its doors on New York City’s famed Fifth Avenue today.

Irrepressible UK startup Skyports Drone Services has landed what – in theory, anyway – could be a gold mine of near- and long-term UAV activity through its new partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. 

It took New York City ages to get over its aversion to drones, but now that it has its leaders are pushing for their deployment in expanding numbers – including helping beach lifeguards reach drowning victims faster.

Police in New York City have added an another use case to their expanding deployment of drones: dissuading people from recurring rooftop “subway surfing” activity that has resulted in deaths and serious injuries this year.

When New York Mayor Eric Adams announced the liberalization of permitting rules for drone operation in the city last July, he predicted it would lead to a growth of aerial services improving residents’ daily lives. One application he didn’t mention is one many New Yorkers are least enamored with: UAV surveillance by the police, which has increased exponentially over the past year.

Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) plane company Joby revealed it staged an exhibition flight in New York, establishing its air taxi as the first ever to take to the skies of Manhattan, and opening the way for future next generation aircraft activities.

New York City’s iconic Central Park is set to host its first-ever drone show this weekend. One thousand drones will light up the Manhattan sky with swirling vortices and amorphous shapes during three scheduled performances. Here are the complete details…

New York has recently taken considerable steps toward facilitating and increasing the use of long-banished drones within the city – and also overcoming lively resident opposition to those rooted in personal privacy concerns. But it’s precisely the enduring strength of that resistance that now risks making a decision by NY police to deploy UAVs for outdoor and backyard party surveillance this long holiday weekend a “too much, too soon” decision officials may wind up regretting.

Despite the recent moves toward liberalizing drone flights in New York, police officials have made it abundantly clear that any unauthorized UAV spotted around this year’s US Open Tennis Tournament in Queens will be subjected to the city’s traditional bum’s rush treatment of aerial reprobates.

In the wake of recent moves to facilitate drone operations in the formerly closed skies of New York City, officials are now reportedly examining the further expansion of already increasing police use of UAVs to include emergency responder activities – provoking immediate, albeit suspiciously motivated alarm.

New York City has taken the first major step toward softening its reputation as among the world’s most hostile places for drone use with the unveiling of a new permitting process aimed at liberalizing what has until now been a near blanket ban on UAV operation.

If drones are being deployed to keep people safe from sharks at the city’s beaches, the New York Police Department (NYPD) figures they may prove just as useful in broadcasting audio messages to residents of areas facing emergency situations.

New York state officials are providing funding for additional drones to monitor downstate beaches following a series of shark attacks off NYC and Long Island weekend and vacation spots, and the frenzy of news coverage those produced.

Officials in New York are proposing changes to rules that strictly regulate drone activity within NYC, but UAV businesses and other operators hoping to see the end of the city’s quasi-blanket ban on flights aren’t likely to be singing the praises of liberalization just yet.

Aviation services company Blade Air Mobility has teamed up with next generation sustainable ALIA-250 aircraft developer BETA Technologies to undertake the first test flight of an electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane in the greater NYC area.

California-based air taxi plane developer Archer Aviation has announced the first airport-to-city-center route it intends to operate beginning in 2025, connecting Manhattan and the Newark Liberty International Airport hub of the company’s shareholder and strategic partner United Airlines.

The Candy Crush craze continues to reach new heights. This time, quite literally.

Candy Crush Saga – one of the longest-lasting, hugely successful mobile games to date – is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a drone show in New York City. As many as 500 drones are expected to take over the NYC skyline on the evening of November 3.

A US district judge has ruled that Brooklyn-based media production company Xizmo can proceed with its lawsuit challenging New York City’s local “Avigation Law,” which effectively bans the use of drones in the city. Interestingly, this avigation rule was originally adopted into New York City’s Administrative Code in 1948, way before small civilian drones even existed.