Filming With a Drone by Location in New York City (2026)

In New York City, location drives almost every permitting and feasibility decision for a drone shoot. The same camera move that is straightforward on Staten Island may be effectively impossible in Midtown because of airspace, and a park that looks ideal may be entirely off-limits. This guide maps how location shapes your permit requirements and your real-world chances of flying.

City Property: MOME Plus NYPD

Filming on City property — streets, sidewalks, public plazas — generally requires a MOME film permit when your production uses equipment beyond hand-held gear, asserts exclusive use of City property, requests parking privileges, or needs NYPD/FDNY assistance. On top of that, every take-off and landing of the drone requires an NYPD drone permit. So a typical on-street commercial drone shoot needs both permits at the same location.

Parks: No-Fly Except Five Fields

NYC parks are a complete no-fly zone for drones except at the model aircraft fields designated by the Parks Commissioner. NYC Parks currently designates five such fields:

• Marine Park (Brooklyn)
• Calvert Vaux Park (Brooklyn)
• Flushing Meadows Corona Park (Queens)
• Forest Park (Queens)
• LaTourette Park & Golf Course (Staten Island)

Every other park — including Central Park and Prospect Park — is off-limits. The designated fields are intended for model-aircraft recreation, not commercial film production, so a park-based commercial shoot is rarely a realistic path. For a feature or commercial that needs a park backdrop, work with MOME and consider locations outside park boundaries.

The Manhattan Airspace Reality

The single largest location constraint is airspace, not paperwork. Most of Manhattan below Central Park sits inside Class B airspace under LAANC grid cells with a 0 ft AGL ceiling. A 0 ft ceiling means automated LAANC approval returns no altitude, forcing the operator to apply through FAA DroneZone for a manual authorization — a process that can take 90 or more days and is rarely granted for routine commercial photography. Even with FAA authorization, the NYPD and MOME permits are still separately required. Staten Island and inland parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx are generally more feasible.

Port Authority and Restricted Sites

Some marquee locations are not controlled by the city at all. Port Authority facilities — airports, certain bridges and tunnels, and the PATH system — require separate Port Authority authorization, and the NYPD drone permit does not cover them. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island sit under restricted airspace (P-40). And flying over stadiums, arenas, or outdoor events with 30,000 or more attendees is prohibited by FAA Temporary Flight Restriction under 14 CFR § 91.145.

Choosing a Filmable Location

When scouting for a drone shoot, evaluate each candidate location against three questions: What is the LAANC ceiling here (use B4UFLY or FAA UAS Facility Maps)? Who controls the property — the city, the Parks Department, or the Port Authority? And are there standing restrictions such as P-40 or a recurring TFR? Locations that clear all three — typically away from core Manhattan, off park land, and clear of restricted airspace — are where a commercial drone production can realistically and lawfully operate.