Smarter rules for flying drones: NYC needs sensible restrictions on remote aircraft

Despite the present panic over drones in New Jersey and elsewhere, the little flying machines do have value (like the New Year’s celebrations in Central and Prospect Parks) and New York City needs to rethink its rules about who can operate them and where.

This is a very congested place with tightly controlled airspace. Generally speaking, that’s as it should be. But right now, rules on drones are so restrictive, they effectively prohibit many productive uses. We need to start making smart distinctions between when drones are worthwhile and when they’re potentially nefarious.

Right now, to use a drone in New York City, a person needs an Unmanned Aircraft Permit that’s issued by the NYPD in partnership with the Department of Transportation.

To get that permit, a person must fill out a form in which they provide government-issued photo ID; FAA pilot certification; FAA unmanned aerial registration; applicable FAA waivers and other authorizations; proof of general liability and drone insurance; details regarding data privacy and cybersecurity practices policy; and potentially additional documents.

Per the NYPD, “Online applications must be submitted up to 30 days in advance of the earliest proposed take-off or landing.” In many cases, all that red tape amounts to an effective ban.

But there’s absolutely nothing wrong and a lot right with using drones a lot more to do routine building inspections; done smartly, it might avert the need for some of the scaffolding that now blankets New York. That’s something Mayor Adams has made moves to allow, but it’s still awfully slow going. Expand it.

There’s nothing wrong with that New Year’s Eve drone show, or occasional other artistic and creative displays. We shouldn’t allow ads for Coca-Cola or Starbucks or any other brand blanketing the sky on a regular basis — there are already ads in our line of sight almost anywhere — but non-commercial shows for the city as a whole are terrific.

Nor should we make it too difficult for TV and film production teams to get the kinds of compelling shots that would otherwise be dangerous or prohibitively expensive to get. Down the road, it might even make sense to allow limited drone deliveries in parts of the city (nowhere near any airports), taking cars and trucks off the roads.

When used by government, we must guard against using drones as surveillance devices that peer into backyards or other places where people have expectations of privacy.

But drones were properly used to help scour Central Park for Luigi Mangione’s backpack and it’s well and good to use them to race to the scene of an emergency. And in the treacherous waters off Brighton Beach or the Rockaways, drones can also be life-savers, dropping flotation devices to swimmers in trouble.

Yes, of course: When unregulated, drones can be problematic or even dangerous. They can violate privacy; they can fly in the paths of helicopters. In the nightmare scenario, a drone carrying an explosive device could terrorize Times Square. That said, those determined to use drones to hurt people won’t be deterred by a pile of DOT and NYPD regulations; to stop that kind of illegal use, the authorities need to maintain constant vigilance.

Let drones do their best — and continue to try to prevent them from doing their worst.