Drones latest: FAA announces New York and New Jersey airspace restrictions

The Delaware State Police called on residents Friday to report any suspicious drone activity in the area.

“The Delaware State Police is aware of recent sightings of potential drone activity throughout the state. The operation of a drone is a legal activity. If there is an occasion that you find a drone in a suspicious area or the appearance of suspicious activity, the Delaware State Police is asking that these events be reported to our Delaware Anti-Terrorism Tipline at 1-800-FORCE-1-2,” it said. “Reporting these events in this manner will allow experts to evaluate the details of the event for proper action.”

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy stressed Thursday that there is no public safety threat from drones.

“There is no public threat here. Period. I could say that unequivocally,” Murphy told News 12. “I have a very, very, very high degree of confidence.”

A new analysis of possible drone sightings over New Jersey has found that the majority of videos actually appeared to show planes or helicopters.

“None of the videos analyzed by The Times conclusively showed drones, though in some cases that remains a plausible explanation,” said The New York Times.

“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 [is] no threat to these sites,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement.

“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.”

Some affected areas include Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, and Yonkers.

Bewildered New Jersey natives and local officials aren’t the only ones worried about drones; the NFL, Major League Baseball and NASCAR are now saying they don’t want any “unauthorized” drones over their events.

The sports giants are demanding swift legislative action to give them the teeth to stop the drones flying over – and potentially capturing video and photos – of their events.

One such bill, the Safeguarding the Homeland from the Threats Posed by Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act, was blocked by the Senate earlier this year.

That legislation would have provided state and local officials with the authority to intercept drones if they violated the law, FOX 5 DC reports.

“The time for us to act on this is now,” Cathy Lanier, the NFL’s chief security officer, said in a statement.

“We don’t want to wait until something bad happens.”

Drone sightings at NFL games has reportedly spiked from 12 in 2017 to more than 2,800 in 2023.

Lanier said the trend was alarming, and noted that even though the NFL has technology that can alert officials to the presence of the drones, it has no legal authority to do anything about the devices.

Temporary flying restriction areas are in parts within the city of Camden, according to WPVI.

They’re also in Gloucester City, Winslow Township, Evesham, Hancock’s Bridge in Lower Alloways Township in Salem County, Westampton, Burlington and Hamilton in Mercer County. Flying drones are also banned in Bridgewater, Cedar Grove, North Brunswick, Metuchen, Westampton, South Brunswick, Edison, Branchburg, Sewaren, Jersey City, Harrison, Elizabeth, Bayonne, Clifton and Kearny.

“We continue to assess there is no public safety threat relating to the reported drone sightings,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement provided to ABC News.

“In coordination with the FAA and our critical infrastructure partners who requested temporary flight restrictions over their facilities, out of an abundance of caution, the FAA has issued temporary flight restrictions over some critical infrastructure facilities in New Jersey.”