NYS State Parks Instagram Comment

[nfarruggio]

***UPDATE***

Thankfully this has been resolved. I spoke to someone at the park and he was extremely reasonable and deemed my flight legal. Thank you everyone for your support and guidance.




Hello, I recently posted a photo to Instagram of a building on a New York State Park property. My flight was legal in that I didn't take off or land within the park property, but they commented on my photo and told me to take the photo down because it is illegal to fly there. I privately messaged them and said my flight was legal but they are insisting my photo is illegal. Please see the attached screenshot for reference. How should I respond? Should I just let take it down and move on or give them a call to plead my case/understand where there are coming from?

Thanks,
-Ni

 

[John Brainerd]

If it were me, I'd call that number and ask them to explain they're statement with specific references to state law.

Hello, I recently posted a photo to Instagram of a building on a New York State Park property. My flight was legal in that I didn't take off or land within the park property, but they commented on my photo and told me to take the photo down because it is illegal to fly there. I privately messaged them and said my flight was legal but they are insisting my photo is illegal. Please see the attached screenshot for reference. How should I respond? Should I just let take it down and move on or give them a call to plead my case/understand where there are coming from?

Thanks,
-NiView attachment 115883

 

[Malcx]

Yeah I agree with John, I'd ask them what local/other law it specifically violates. Don't be confrontational and say thanks you're going to get some advice and will let them know your decision in a couple of days. If it seems like they may have a point then take it down unless you want a fight or the photo holds a lot of value to you as part of your instagram presence etc.

 

[Vic Moss]

Do not give in. Please PM me where this is posted. I'll chime in. This is a First Amendment issue.

 

[Vic Moss]

... never mind, found it. And commented accordingly.

 

[nfarruggio]

... never mind, found it. And commented accordingly.

Thank you so much Vic! Much appreciated.

 

[Vic Moss]

I called and talked to a very nice man, and Michelle will be calling me back (hopefully). If she doesn't, I'll try to call her later.

 

[tck444]

Hard to fight City Hall in this environment. Seems the rules can change or be enforced or a whim? But good luck!

 

[PhantomFandom]

Hello, I recently posted a photo to Instagram of a building on a New York State Park property. My flight was legal in that I didn't take off or land within the park property, but they commented on my photo and told me to take the photo down because it is illegal to fly there. I privately messaged them and said my flight was legal but they are insisting my photo is illegal. Please see the attached screenshot for reference. How should I respond? Should I just let take it down and move on or give them a call to plead my case/understand where there are coming from?

Thanks,
-Ni

They are blowing smoke and are sadly misinformed. Stand up for your rights and don't back down in this case. Of course, you need to make sure you were flying completely legally. By that I mean that you did not take-off, land, or personally stand on park property while operating the UAS. Also make sure you were not breaking any other FAA regulations like max altitude, VLOS, flying over people etc... If they were to pursue it (mistakenly of course) then you want to make sure that all aspects of the flight were completely legal, and it would be helpful if you had the full flight logs for that flight.

I ran into a similar situation earlier this year with the Battleship New Jersey. A "security officer" saw me flying and came over to inform me that it was illegal to do so. I knew it was perfectly legal and thus questioned him on it. He did not know the details and gave me the number of the Chief of Security. I did pack up that day and followed up with an E-Mail. The Chief of Security gave me the same line that it is not allowed. I pointed him to all the pertinent FAA and state regulations regarding UAS operations, and then asked him to point out the specific laws and regulations that would prohibit me from flying there. The silence was deafening! I followed up three times and never got a response. I now have all that correspondence as a record of my attempts to clear up the "misunderstanding". If I am approached the next time I fly there, I will continue to fly as i know I am doing so completely legally and even tried to address the issue with them.

 

[Vic Moss]

They are blowing smoke and are sadly misinformed. Stand up for your rights and don't back down in this case. Of course, you need to make sure you were flying completely legally. By that I mean that you did not take-off, land, or personally stand on park property while operating the UAS. Also make sure you were not breaking any other FAA regulations like max altitude, VLOS, flying over people etc... If they were to pursue it (mistakenly of course) then you want to make sure that all aspects of the flight were completely legal, and it would be helpful if you had the full flight logs for that flight.

I ran into a similar situation earlier this year with the Battleship New Jersey. A "security officer" saw me flying and came over to inform me that it was illegal to do so. I knew it was perfectly legal and thus questioned him on it. He did not know the details and gave me the number of the Chief of Security. I did pack up that day and followed up with an E-Mail. The Chief of Security gave me the same line that it is not allowed. I pointed him to all the pertinent FAA and state regulations regarding UAS operations, and then asked him to point out the specific laws and regulations that would prohibit me from flying there. The silence was deafening! I followed up three times and never got a response. I now have all that correspondence as a record of my attempts to clear up the "misunderstanding". If I am approached the next time I fly there, I will continue to fly as i know I am doing so completely legally and even tried to address the issue with them.

Perfect way to handle it.

 

[Pstik]

I have a question on this note. I was going to fly around Gettysburg from outside of park over the park. But read warnings in b4ufly that there are stiff fines for flying there so of course I did not. Any thoughts.

 

[PhantomFandom]

I have a question on this note. I was going to fly around Gettysburg from outside of park over the park. But read warnings in b4ufly that there are stiff fines for flying there so of course I did not. Any thoughts.

Gettysburg Military National Park has the same in-park restrictions as most every other National Park in the USA. You are not allowed to take-off from, land in, or operate from within the park boundaries. However there are zero FAA airspace restrictions over the park itself. The FAA is the sole authority over airspace so it is perfectly legal to fly over and around the park.

The issue remains that you need to find a suitable and legal place near the park from which you can launch and land. Since you may get some unwanted attention and visitors, you need to be extra careful that no aspect of the flight slips even the least bit past the regulations. If taking off from private property, do you have permission from the property owner? If taking off from public property are you doing so in a manner that does not cause any danger to civilians in the area? Remember 400' max altitude, maintain VLOS at all times, and never fly over people. If you can be totally safe and within all regulations then nothing prevents you legally from getting aerial footage of the park.

BTW, here is a shot of Gettysburg. There actually isn't too much to see from up there...

 

[Pstik]

Gettysburg Military National Park has the same in-park restrictions as most every other National Park in the USA. You are not allowed to take-off from, land in, or operate from within the park boundaries. However there are zero FAA airspace restrictions over the park itself. The FAA is the sole authority over airspace so it is perfectly legal to fly over and around the park.

The issue remains that you need to find a suitable and legal place near the park from which you can launch and land. Since you may get some unwanted attention and visitors, you need to be extra careful that no aspect of the flight slips even the least bit past the regulations. If taking off from private property, do you have permission from the property owner? If taking off from public property are you doing so in a manner that does not cause any danger to civilians in the area? Remember 400' max altitude, maintain VLOS at all times, and never fly over people. If you can be totally safe and within all regulations then nothing prevents you legally from getting aerial footage of the park.

BTW, here is a shot of Gettysburg. There actually isn't too much to see from up there...
View attachment 115891

I was thinking about what would I really see from up there. Thanks for reply.

 

[fellersk]

I had a similar situation with NYS Parks. I posted a video on YouTube of Taughannock Falls State Park where I took off and landed outside the park limits. I received a comment from someone I believed to be from the Park Service letting me know it was illegal to fly over Taughannock Falls. I cited the rules and the FAA governance of the airspace. They sent me a State Park regulation and then I heard nothing else from them.

Unless they're UAS pilots, they don't know the laws, only their local regulations.

 

[Deleted member 136962]

Still new here but after talking with a senior member here there could be a potential for an issue.

As far as I know....there may be some park rules that surround wildlife. That could be the "gotcha" ....in this case I don't feel this was an issue based on the

Hello, I recently posted a photo to Instagram of a building on a New York State Park property. My flight was legal in that I didn't take off or land within the park property, but they commented on my photo and told me to take the photo down because it is illegal to fly there. I privately messaged them and said my flight was legal but they are insisting my photo is illegal. Please see the attached screenshot for reference. How should I respond? Should I just let take it down and move on or give them a call to plead my case/understand where there are coming from?

Thanks,
-NiView attachment 115883

So I tried calling just now on the phone number you stated. I will try again tomorrow.

 

[nfarruggio]

Still new here but after talking with a senior member here there could be a potential for an issue.

As far as I know....there may be some park rules that surround wildlife. That could be the "gotcha" ....in this case I don't feel this was an issue based on the


So I tried calling just now on the phone number you stated. I will try again tomorrow.

Hey man, this issue was resolved. I spoke with someone at the park today and they have deemed my flight legal. No need to pursue further. Thanks anyways!

 

[Deleted member 136962]

Terrific!

 

[maintenanceguy]

It's good that you followed up. I'm sure that the person at the parks service that misunderstood the law has now been informed. You may have help the next flyer.

 

[Dbez1]

I’m glad you got it resolved. In the future, if you contact the FAA UAS division, they will make contact with the park and inform them of the law for you. They are sympathetic with our cause and it’s doubtful that park personnel will want to get in an argument with them. ?

 

[JohnLietzke]

Sounds like someone higher up with a little more common sense weighed in on the matter. If your flight was legal what you did is not different than someone taking a landscape photo in the park or posting a picture of the playground equipment on Yelp.