Dec. 14 (UPI) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochel on Saturday called for more powers for state and local governments to counter airborne objects after the recent surge in unidentified drone activity forced the closure of an airport.
Declaring, “this has gone too far,” Hochel said the federal government’s monopoly on dealing with rogue flying objects is hindering efforts to counter the concerns posed by an outbreak of drone sightings across New York, New Jersey and other northeastern states, which have sparked confusion and fears for resident safety since mid-November.
Her remarks came after runways at Stewart International Airport, located 65 miles north of New York City, were shut down for about an hour due to drone activity in the airspace late on Friday.
Earlier the in day New York State Police said they had received “numerous” reports of sightings over the previous 24 hours and are “investigating each report and sharing information with our federal and local law enforcement partners through the New York State Intelligence Center.”
Hochel said that while the Intelligence Center is continuing to work with federal law enforcement to track down the source of the drone sightings, local authorities must be given more power. Current law restricts investigations of such “unmanned aircraft systems” to the Federal Aviation Administration and other Washington agencies — a situation that needs to be changed, she said.
“I am now calling on Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act,” the governor said in a statement. “This bill would reform legal authorities to counter-UAS and strengthen the FAA’s oversight of drones, and would extend counter-UAS activities to select state and local law enforcement agencies.
“Extending these powers to New York State and our peers is essential,” she added, while echoing pleas issued by New Jersey officials on Friday urging the White House to do more to communicate what they’re doing to counter the drone outbreak.
“Until those powers are granted to state and local officials, the Biden Administration must step in by directing additional federal law enforcement to New York and the surrounding region to ensure the safety of our critical infrastructure and our people,” Hochel said.
Meanwhile, fresh reports of drone sightings in the tri-state region of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut continued on Saturday, prompting a Republican New Jersey congressman to call for some of the drones to be shot down by the U.S. military.
A New York City police helicopter was shown in a social media video hovering in the air early Saturday near United Nations headquarters on East 42nd Street after reports of a suspected drone sighting. Officials later determined there was no drone activity found, WABC-TV reported.
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI said in a joint statement issued Thursday that they have been investigating the sightings and have not found anything to suggest the sightings pose a national security or public safety threat.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., on Saturday blasted the Biden administration and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for their response, asking reporters, “Why can’t we even track a suspect drone to its origin? Have we so little control over our airspace?”
He amplified sentiments expressed by President-elect Donald Trump on Friday that one of the drones should be shot down in order to be examined and rule out the possibility they are under the control of a foreign adversary.
“I’ve written Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asking the Pentagon to authorize the use of force to down one or more of these unmanned threats to uncover the mystery of the drones,” Smith said.
