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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued temporary flight restrictions over parts of Long Island on Friday, Dec. 20, amid mysterious drone sightings in the region.
Restrictions are in effect until Sunday, Jan. 19, over locations determined by the FAA to be critical infrastructure sites, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office.
Among the Long Island locales on the list are Oceanside, Roslyn Heights, Levittown, Melville, and Commack.
"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. “This action is purely precautionary; there are no threat to these sites.”
The move comes days after Hochul announced that federal officials were deploying a state-of-the-art drone detection system over New York after she called for additional resources to bolster drone detection and response capabilities.
The mystery drones, first reported in mid-November over New Jersey, have caused disruptions and rampant speculation across the region. Notably, operations at Stewart International Airport in New Windsor were halted for nearly an hour on Friday, Dec. 13, after drones were detected near the runways.
On Long Island, Suffolk County Police confirmed they were working closely with County Executive Ed Romaine and state and federal law enforcement partners to “monitor the situation in real-time” following reported sightings.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman called on federal elected officials to “come forward, be transparent, and tell the public exactly what’s going on.”
The growing mystery also prompted a pointed response from President-elect Donald Trump, who suggested the drones be shot down.
You can view the complete list of Long Island flight restrictions on the FAA’s website.
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