Another victory for common sense and the hobby comes this time from new york, an award-winning national geographic and new york times photographer, who was ticketed earlier this year for photographing, a mass burial site has updated everyone with some positive news: in april 2020, photographer George steinmetz was working on a piece focused towards a small island nestled between new york and long island, heart island measures, approximately one mile by a third of a mile and forms part of pelham islands in the northeastern borough of bronx new york city over the years. It has been an army training, camp union, civil war, prison camp, a psychiatric institution, tuberculosis, sanitarium and a potter’s field with mass burials.

The remains of over 1 million people are buried at heart island, with around 1500 burials happening on a yearly basis on average. During this century, the burials are conducted by inmates from the nearby rikers island jail and the island is controlled by the department of correction who control access strictly. The reason i bring you this small part of the backstory to heart island is to provide a little context to the issues that the drone pilot experienced the island.

At the time, george flew near to take pictures was being used to bury covid 19 work being carried out by inmates, as it usually was. I’M not trying to put myself in the minds of the authorities involved and i certainly do not support george being punished for a completely legal flight, but with the background of the island, you could see and perhaps understand why perhaps some would prefer pictures not to be Taken, however, it wasn’t a private funeral being invaded by paparazzi. It was a story and, as a photojournalist george was within his rights to pursue it. That was an important section to me, as i did not want anyone watching to feel we were sidestepping the nature of the activity being carried out on the ground or showing anything but deep sympathy with those who lost their lives, their family and friends. So, as i was explaining back in april 2020, george steinmetz was flying near the island to record the mass covert 19 burials taking place.

The new york police department, the nypd, confiscated his drone and he was issued with a death ticket for violating new york city administrative code 10-126, which prohibits the takeoff and landing of drones within new york city. Despite the drone being confiscated, george was able to keep hold of the pictures and took to instagram to share this shot with the world. He noted the hashtag keep the memory card whilst explaining that he was indeed cited by the nypd while taking photos of the island which he confirms is not open to the public. The preliminary hearing was scheduled for august and, in the meantime, the photographer purchased another couple of dji mavic 2 pros to enable him to continue with his work. He explains to dpreview.

om that the drone is in a real sweet spot. For me, i prefer the optics and files from the big bird, the inspire 2 with the x7 gimbal, but the mav 2 flies really well. He continues to explain to dpreview.com that his story has something of a happier ending. My case was spontaneously dismissed last week, so i went down to the bronx police hq on wednesday and recovered my drone during the time it was confiscated.

I had to buy a replacement to keep working and i don’t know if i will pursue any further legal action. This was an interesting case which opens up many issues. Does this state or the authorities acting on behalf of the state, have the right to prevent coverage of sensitive areas and activities? Certainly, you would hope they would not use incorrect legislation to attempt to cover up distressing scenes. However, you view this story in terms of the drone flight and the operator’s rights.

It is great news to hear the ticket was dismissed and the drone returned. This is another case where someone seems to have been punished, whilst using their drone in a perfectly legal manner. This is another victory for the drone hobby and even though it is very specific to this situation, they all help. What are your thoughts on this story? Let me know in the comments below we will, of course keep you fully informed if there are any more developments with george’s story.

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