By Hank Russell
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has placed a temporary ban on flying drones over substations in 17 Long Island hamlets. The agency has issued a list of sites where the Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) will be in place until January 18, 2025.
According to local news reports, TFRs have been placed over the Lake Success substation in New Hyde Park, the Roslyn substation in Roslyn Heights, the Glenwood and Shore Rd. substations in Glenwood Landing and the East Garden City substation in Garden City. It is important to note these hamlets are in close proximity to John F. Kennedy International Airport.
TFRs were placed on two sites in Commack: the Hauppauge substation and the Pilgrim substation. Other sites facing airspace restrictions include the Valley Stream substation in Lynbrook, the EF Barrett substation in Oceanside, the Holbrook substation, the Holtsville GT substation, the Shoreham substation, the New South Rd. substation in Hicksville, the Port Jefferson substation in Setauket, the Northport substation, the Riverhead substation in Calverton, the Ruland Rd. substation in Melville, the Far Rockaway substation and the Brookhaven substation in Ridge.
According to the FAA, pilots or drone operators who violate TFRs can face sanctions ranging from warnings or fines to suspensions or revocations of their certificates. The sanction depends on the circumstances of the violation.
As previously reported in Long Island Life & Politics, people have called local law enforcement to report drone sightings across Long Island. One of the drones was reportedly seen flying over or near Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Governor Kathy Hochul said she was told by Homeland Security Secretary Alexander Mayorkas that he has spoken to other federal agencies, She had since learned that the FAA has placed the restrictions over critically sensitive sites.
“Since mid-November, New York has been carefully monitoring reports of drone activity and we have been communicating closely with our federal partners,” Hochul said in a statement. “This action is purely precautionary; there are no threats to these sites.”
Hochul said the federal government also delivered a state-of-the-art drone detection system to the state 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,” she said. “Public safety is my top priority and I will stop at nothing to keep my constituents safe.”