Notably, federal law and regulations take precedence over state and local laws. This means that everyone in the USA must register his drone with the Federal Aviation Administration and follow the FAA’s Special Rule for Model Aircraft.

There are nine major cities in New York State and all of them have made it illegal to fly drones in them (except for commercial drone applications which might get individual permits or licenses). Luckily, New York City allows you to take your drone to the skies in designated parks and model airfields like:

• Flushing Meadows Corona Park
• Calvert Vaux Park
• Marine Park
• Forest Park
• La Tourette Park

Yet, you must not forget that all of Manhattan is off-limits, which includes: water, waterways, land under the jurisdiction of the city and the air space above.

According to the New York Department of Transportation and the New York State Assembly, there are currently no state laws in place concerning the operations of drones in New York, which means that the general Federal regulations are the primary restrictions on what you can do. However, there are plenty of non-specific laws that still apply to drone use, such as reckless endangerment and trespass laws. Furthermore, a City of New York restriction (Administrative Code § 10-126) makes illegal the flying and landing of aircraft (including drones) in New York City in most non-commercial circumstances.

While New York might have been a little slow off the mark with drone-specific legislation, there are quite a few proposed laws that might come into effect any day now. Thereby, one of them would describe what the liabilities are of drone owners, operators and makers respectively. Another one would allow to predict what sort of damages an injured party can claim from each of the three entities depending on circumstances. Finally, because of the development of weapons, New York wants to ban the weaponization of drones like Florida has already done. But even if this is not a law yet, we can only recommend you to not try to attach a pistol, knife or any sort of weapon to your drone. Because drones have also been used to bring weapons, drugs and other illegal stuffs intro prison yards, there will probably be a law prohibiting anyone from flying drones near correctional facilities.

You should also know that drones are not the only aircraft forbidden in and over the city: it is also unlawful for any person to jump or leap from an aircraft in a parachute or any other device within the limits of the city or to take off or land for anybody avigating an aircraft, except in 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 (NYC Administrative Code § 10-126).

[If you or a loved one was arrested for piloting a drone in the limits of the city, do not hesitate to reach out to The Law Office of Matthew Galluzzo; our team of former prosecutors and experienced criminal defense attorneys can help you with your case.]

§ 195.05 Obstructing governmental administration in the second degree.

A person is guilty of obstructing governmental administration when he intentionally obstructs, impairs or perverts the administration of law or other governmental function or prevents or attempts to prevent a public servant from performing an official function, by means of intimidation, physical force or interference, or by means of any independently unlawful act, or by means of interfering, whether or not physical force is involved, with radio, telephone, television or other telecommunications systems owned or operated by the state, or a county, city, town, village, fire district or emergency medical service or by means of releasing a dangerous animal under circumstances evincing the actor’s intent that the animal obstruct governmental administration.

Obstructing governmental administration is a class A misdemeanor.

“O.G.A.” covers a broad range of conduct; cases where convictions for O.G.A have been upheld include situations where defendants pulled the emergency brake on a subway car without any valid reason to do so, refused to move through a metal detector at a county courthouse in a manner which prevented others from entering, or ran on the “set” of an undercover “buy-and-bust” operation after being warned to leave and shouting that the police were present. While the statue requires “intimidation, or a physical or independently unlawful act,” merely refusing to cooperate with a police officer by giving information, or failing to turn over a driver’s license or registration when asked to do so will not fall within the ambit of the statute (although it might subject the actor to liability under the Vehicle and Traffic Law). Essentially, any act committed with the intent to frustrate the purpose or execution of an official acting in a lawful capacity can qualify, like smacking a summons book out of a police officer’s hand to prevent him or her from writing a ticket, for example.

Obstructing Governmental Administration seems to be committed most when street encounters between police officers and civilians go wrong. There are two scenarios where the charge is applied with the most frequency, the first being where civilians try to stop police officers from placing third parties under arrest, either by standing in between officers and the third parties, or by assaulting police officers and/or jumping on them to foil the detention (which also subjects the intervening person to the additional charge of resisting arrest, also a class “A” misdemeanor). Charges can be elevated to a felony if a person uses pepper spray or mace on the officer, or causes physical injury to the officer.

The second common scenario involves the swallowing of drugs in order to prevent officers from recovering them. While no actual “force” is used by the act of swallowing a bag or vial, courts have held that swallowing drugs in an attempt to avoid arrest for drug possession constitutes O.G.A., as well as the crime of “Tampering.” In either of these situation, the additional act of attempting to prevent the police or official actors from discharging their duties usually serves no purpose other than to escalate the situation, and results in additional charges for the police to bring to the District Attorney’s Office when these cases are being written up.

If you are charged with the crime of Obstruction of Governmental Administration, you should not hesitate to retain an experienced criminal attorney immediately. A conviction for O.G.A. results in the incurrence of a permanent criminal record, and is punishable by up to one year in jail.

“New York Defense Attorney Explains the Crime of “Obstructing Governmental Administration.”