New York City Drone Takeoff Rules Under Administrative Code 10-126

I'm Tom Dowell. I fly commercially out of Springdale, Arkansas, for Drones Inbound, and I have held a Part 107 certificate for eight years. This is a law explainer, not legal advice. New York City's drone problem is often described as "you cannot fly in the city." That is not what the city code says. New York City Administrative Code § 10-126 regulates takeoff and landing of aircraft. Federal Class B airspace over the five boroughs is a separate FAA problem. State and city material on this site lives at DroneLaws.us /new-york. Federal rules live at DroneLaws.us /federal.

What § 10-126(c) actually prohibits

Section 10-126 is titled "Avigation in and over the city." Subsection (c), "Take offs and landings," states that it shall be unlawful for any person avigating an aircraft to take off or land, except in an emergency, at any place within the limits of the city other than places of landing designated by the Department of Transportation or the Port of New York Authority.

That sentence is a ground rule. It names takeoff and landing. It names designated places. It names an emergency exception. It does not say that presence in the airspace of the City of New York is, by itself, a city crime. I will not write that claim. If you put skids on a sidewalk in Manhattan without a designated site, § 10-126(c) is the statute. Presence in the air, by itself, is not what that subsection names.

The section defines "aircraft" as any contrivance invented for avigation or flight in the air, with a parachute carve-out for safety equipment. NYPD treats unmanned aircraft, including drones, as aircraft for this purpose. The Department said so when it adopted 38 RCNY Chapter 24 in July 2023, and the chapter defines "unmanned aircraft" as an aircraft operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft, including a drone or a model aircraft.

Section 10-126(i) states that any person who violates any of the provisions of the section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. I am citing that classification. I am not inventing a fine schedule the subsection does not recite.

The July 2023 permit path is 38 RCNY Chapter 24

Until mid-2023, § 10-126(c) left almost no public path except DOT- or Port Authority-designated places and the emergency exception. On July 21, 2023, 38 RCNY Chapter 24 took effect under Charter §§ 435 and 1043 and Administrative Code § 10-126. The rule lets the public apply for a permit whose site DOT temporarily designates as a takeoff or landing site.

Section 24-02(a) requires a Chapter 24 permit to take off or land an unmanned aircraft within New York City, except as provided in 24-02(b): a Parks area designated under Administrative Code § 18-146(c); a public aircraft operated by a government agency under an FAA certificate of authorization; an emergency, including government or volunteer-fire response; and activity otherwise authorized under § 10-126.

The Parks exception is a separate model-aircraft rule. NYPD's Unmanned Aircraft Permits page states that take-offs and landings within designated Model Aircraft Fields do not require permitting under these rules. That is not a citywide recreational license, and it is not a rooftop Part 107 job.

How the public application actually works

Applications go through the NYPD Unmanned Aircraft (UA) Permit Application Portal. The Department's UA Permit Portal FAQ (updated September 6, 2023) and § 24-03 set the mechanics.

Apply at least 30 days before the earliest proposed takeoff or landing. Applications may be filed up to 180 days in advance. A 14-day path exists only for operators listed on a Chapter 24 permit issued in the prior 180 days that was not revoked. One application may cover multiple aircraft, dates, times, and sites, capped at five date-time-and-site combinations.

Section 24-03(a)(8) requires documentation of FAA authorization to operate under 14 CFR Part 107, including certifications or waivers, or under a Part 11 exemption, for each proposed operator. The portal FAQ states that every application must propose a UA operator who has obtained a Remote Pilot Certificate under Part 107. Recreational TRUST alone is not the operator credential the rule asks for.

Section 24-03(e) sets a $150 application fee, non-refundable except in a narrow revocation-without-fault situation. Section 24-06 requires commercial general liability and drone aviation liability / UAS coverage, $2 million per occurrence and $4 million aggregate, with the City of New York, its officials, and employees as additional insureds. Those figures are in the adopted rule. They are insurance limits, not a city fine schedule I invented.

If the aircraft will capture or transmit still images, video, or audio, § 24-05(e) requires community-board notice and posted notices within 100 feet of the designated takeoff and landing site no later than 48 hours before the earliest takeoff on the permit. NYPD's permits page repeats that notice duty.

A permit is not a reservation and does not grant exclusive use of the site. The FAQ is explicit: operators must still have approval to enter or remain on private property. Other city agencies — Parks, the Office of Media and Entertainment — may require their own permits.

Penalties the city actually published

Unauthorized takeoff or landing is the city offense. The portal FAQ states that operators who cause a UA to take off or land without authorization may be subject to both a Criminal Court and an OATH summons. Operators who act contrary to a valid permit may be subject to an OATH summons.

Section 24-07(a) sets civil penalties for taking off or landing without a Chapter 24 permit, or violating a permit term or the chapter: $250 for a first violation, $500 for a second violation within a one-year period, and $1,000 for a third and subsequent violation within a one-year period. Section 24-07(b) adds that a person who causes an unmanned aircraft to take off or land in violation of § 10-126 may still be charged with a misdemeanor under that section. That is the pairing: OATH civil penalties under the rule, and a misdemeanor under the Administrative Code. I am not inventing a dollar figure for the misdemeanor.

Class B is still federal

A Chapter 24 permit is a city takeoff-and-landing designation. It is not an FAA airspace authorization. Much of the city sits under New York Class B (Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark). Part 107 still requires authorization in that airspace. Remote ID still applies on a registered aircraft. Those duties are at DroneLaws.us /federal. Section 10-126(f) makes it unlawful to navigate an aircraft within city limits contrary to FAA rules. That incorporates federal air-traffic rules. It does not convert Class B into a city license.

What I would do before a New York City job

I would not treat a Part 107 certificate as a city launch ticket. I would open the portal, name a Part 107 operator, assemble the § 24-06 insurance, pick a site I can occupy, and file at least 30 days out unless I qualify for the 14-day path. I would still run LAANC or DroneZone. I would not launch from a park that is not a Parks-designated model-aircraft field. The city offense in § 10-126(c) is the takeoff or the landing, not "being in NYC airspace."

Primary sources

• NYC Administrative Code § 10-126
• 38 RCNY Chapter 24, Notice of Adoption (PDF) (effective July 21, 2023)
• NYC Rules, Applications to Launch or Land an Unmanned Aircraft
• NYPD Unmanned Aircraft (UA) Permits
• NYPD UA Permit Application Portal and portal FAQ
• DroneLaws.us /new-york

This is general information about New York City takeoff-and-landing rules, not legal advice. We are not affiliated with NYPD, DOT, the Port Authority, or the FAA. Verify the primary sources before you launch.