Former Military Sites and Federal Land Near New York City and What They Mean for Drones (2026)

New York City has no standalone military restricted airspace blanketing the boroughs the way some bases do elsewhere, but the metropolitan area does contain federal land — including a former naval air station — where special rules apply. The most important of these for drone operators is the National Park Service prohibition that covers former military sites now folded into the National Recreation Area, layered on top of the FAA airspace and NYPD permit requirements that apply everywhere.

Two Independent Layers of Authorization

Flying a drone in New York City is legal but requires authorization at two independent levels, and satisfying one does not satisfy the other. At the federal level, the FAA controls the airspace: because all five boroughs sit within the Class B airspace of JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark, every flight needs prior FAA airspace authorization through LAANC or, where LAANC is unavailable, a manual authorization through FAA DroneZone (14 CFR § 91.131; 14 CFR § 107.41). At the municipal level, New York City Administrative Code § 10-126(b) and (c) make it unlawful to take off or land an unmanned aircraft anywhere in the city without an NYPD Unmanned Aircraft permit issued under 38 RCNY Chapter 24. You must hold both before you fly — FAA authorization never substitutes for the NYPD permit, and the NYPD permit never substitutes for FAA authorization.

Floyd Bennett Field and the Gateway National Recreation Area

Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn was New York City's first municipal airport and later a naval air station. Today it is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, administered by the National Park Service (NPS). On NPS-administered land, launching, landing, or operating an unmanned aircraft is prohibited under NPS Policy Memorandum 14-05 (issued under the authority of 36 CFR § 1.5) except under an NPS Special Use Permit. So even though it is no longer an active military base, the site is federal land with its own drone prohibition.

Other NPS-Administered Sites in NYC

The same NPS prohibition applies across other federal monuments and parklands in the city:

Violating the NPS prohibition is a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment and a $5,000 fine under NPS regulations.

Federal Facilities and the Proposed UAFR Rule

Federal buildings throughout NYC — courthouses, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and others — carry heightened security considerations even though there is no current blanket federal regulation prohibiting flights over all federal buildings. The FAA's proposed Unmanned Aircraft Flight Restriction framework (proposed Part 74) would, if finalized, establish formal restrictions over many federal facility categories. As of 2026 this rule is proposed and not yet in force; treat all federal facilities as high-attention airspace in the meantime.

What to Do

1. Do not launch, land, or operate from NPS land without a Special Use Permit.
2. Verify the FAA airspace authorization (LAANC or DroneZone) for any nearby non-NPS launch point in the FAA UAS Facility Map.
3. Check for active TFRs and confirm your NYPD permit before takeoff.