New York City Developers Lobby to Legalize Drones
The Wall Street Journal, Tess Riski, 7.16.2019
Developers say a 1948 law effectively prohibiting drones from flying within city boundaries is overly broad and out of date
Real-estate developers in Los Angeles and Chicago are embracing drone technology to help speed up the building process and reduce costs. But in New York City, a 71-year-old local statute is keeping drones grounded.
The 1948 law requires that all aircraft take off and land in a location designated for flight by the Port Authority—namely airports. This effectively prohibits drones from flying within city boundaries, despite the Federal Aviation Administration’s 2016 rule that legalized commercial drone use. Drones, however, are allowed in a few city parks.
A New York City website directs anyone who spots the unmanned aerial vehicles in flight to report it to the police immediately. This puts local developers at a competitive disadvantage, some in the industry warn.
“The laws on the books are not written for these new, disruptive technologies,” said Carlo Scissura, the president and chief executive of the New York Building Congress, a trade and lobbying group representing the real estate and construction industry. “The cities that are doing this will always have a leg up on us.”
Mr. Scissura said he is teaming with real-estate leaders and drone-industry executives to lobby city officials to amend the law, which they consider to be overly broad and out of date.
Two New York City Council members, Justin Brannan and Paul Vallone, proposed legislationlast year that would allow for legal drone use, though the bills have been stuck in committee for 18 months.
“The technology’s hand is being tied behind its back because of these laws,” Mr. Brannan said.
Mr. Scissura said he anticipates the largest opposition to come from the New York Police Department. The NYPD last year launched its own drone program to assist in rescue missions, traffic-accident investigations and large events.
An NYPD spokeswoman said if the city were to legalize drone use, the legislation would need to prioritize safety, especially considering the city’s dense population and threats of terrorism.
Landlords and developers say there are many ways drones could be valuable to them and their residents.
City laws require building owners to inspect their facades every five years. This usually means erecting scaffolding over nearly the entire building, a process that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and take months to complete.
Drones offer an inspection for a fraction of the cost. Drone manufacturer PrecisionHawk charges an average of $3,000 for a building inspection via drone, said Diana Cooper, the company’s senior vice president of policy and strategy.
“It’s long been our feeling that it would enable buildings to save a tremendous amount of money if inspection of facades could be done with drones with cameras,” said Mary Ann Rothman, executive director of the New York City Council of Cooperatives and Condominiums.
Drone inspections can also be completed in a few hours, as opposed to the weeks or months that a traditional inspection takes.
“With a drone, you can have two to three people who block off a sidewalk for half an hour,” said Adam Lisberg, corporate communications director of the drone company, DJI.
Not everyone sees a better future in drones. Engineers in the city’s construction industry are dubious of the claim that drones can replace traditional hands-on facade inspections.
“Putting your hands on something can find a lot more issues than a visual inspection,” said Stephen Varone, the president of Rand Engineering & Architecture.
Kathy Needham-Inocco, professional engineer at the engineering firm Midtown Preservation, questioned the safety of drones. “I can’t possibly imagine that they’d ever be legal in New York City,” she said. “I don’t see the safety with the dense population that we have.”
Mr. Lisberg said that while a closer examination might be necessary if an issue is detected during a drone inspection, these aerial vehicles are capable of completing the initial inspection process. And if no issue is detected, he said, scaffolding may be unnecessary.
Ms. Cooper said PrecisionHawk—which conducts aerial mapping, 3-D modeling and building inspections across the country—would operate in New York City if the law allowed it.
“Construction is something we would be very interested in doing here,” Ms. Cooper said. “There’s no reason for New York City to be left behind.”
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-developers-lobby-to-legalize-drones-11563274803
