Visitors to Central Park may soon find themselves under surveillance by New York Police Department drones flying over them like “Big Brother” as the iconic green space struggles with a huge rise in crime.
Tech-savvy Mayor Eric Adams floated the idea on Tuesday, and also talked about using other nebulous “new technologies” to counter a worrying rise in sex crimes, assaults and robberies in Central Park, including an incident in which three teenage muggers attacked three parkgoers that same morning.
“I think with such a huge area, we could better use drones to monitor the area from the air,” Hizzoner said during his weekly press conference with reporters.
When pressed by The Washington Post for more details, the New York Police Department forwarded an earlier statement from a Capitol Hill deputy police commissioner who said police would test drones to respond to ShotSpotter gun detection alerts.
“The Department anticipates having drones operational in the Central Park Precinct in the coming weeks,” a spokesperson said in an email.
But his Central Park drone pitch did not go over well with park visitors who spoke to The Washington Post.
“I think this is so stupid,” said Taylor Clarke Bennett, a longtime park musician.
“I don’t know what the drones would do. … There are so many places to hide and sneak away. I think it’s just better for them to be on foot,” he said, referring to the police.
Serena, 23, a Midtown resident who sat in the park on Tuesday, said she doesn’t mind drones at night, but she doesn’t mind during the day.
“Not during the day! Not while I’m here,” she said, gulping down a plastic cup of orange wine.
“It’s a bit dystopian.”
The tranquility of Central Park, a world-famous oasis in the middle of bustling Manhattan, has been shattered by a rise in crime caused by threatening teenagers and crazed vagrants.
According to NYPD data, the number of robberies in 2024 increased by 222% compared to the same period last year.
The city also saw ten serious assaults during the same period – a relatively small number, but still a 100% increase over the previous year, the data shows.
Adams is an advocate of using technology to solve public safety problems, but with mixed results.
His “SnitchBOT” in the Times Square subway gathered dust after its spectacular launch, a $75,000 robot dog fell on its side while monitoring a collapsed parking garage, and civil rights groups threatened to sue him over his plans to install gun scanners in the subways.
Under Adams, the city has significantly expanded its use of drones. The NYPD and other agencies are deploying flying robots over the West Indian American Day parade and the J’Ouvert festival, as well as over beaches to spot sharks and swimmers in trouble — and to inadvertently provoke seagulls — and possibly to respond to emergency calls.
Data shows the department flew the flying robots 647 times between January and June this year, compared to 564 times in all of 2023.
Adams also indicated on Tuesday that he believes the policing problems in Central Park and the city could be solved with the help of another hot technology: artificial intelligence.
“I think AI is going to change the way we manage cities more efficiently, more effectively and more safely,” he said. “What if you could identify a gun immediately when it’s drawn? That would be a huge advance.”
