North Hempstead, NY Drone Rules: Recreational Drones (2026)

Article IV of Chapter 57 does not carve recreational flyers out of the permit requirement: § 57-20(A) requires a Town Clerk permit before any UAV, private, commercial or business, is launched or landed at a Town facility, so a hobbyist flying a model aircraft or drone for fun is covered on the same footing as a commercial operator. The article does treat hobbyists differently in the details. Section 57-29(A), 'Duties of permittee,' requires compliance with regulations and rules promulgated by the AMA in the case of hobbyist UAV operation or 14 CFR Part 107 in the case of commercial UAV operation, recognizing Academy of Model Aeronautics rules as the applicable standard for noncommercial flying.

Section 57-25(B) builds on that by allowing proof of membership in the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) to serve as satisfactory proof of insurance for noncommercial UAV operations, sparing hobbyists the commercial policy limits of $1,000,000 general liability otherwise required under § 57-25(A). Section 57-24(B) sets the same seasonal permit windows for every applicant, October 1 through April 31 for a seasonal permit and May 1 through September 31 for a nonseasonal permit tied to specific flight hours, with the Town Clerk able to waive the fifteen-day advance-filing rule for good cause.

Section 57-31(A) exempts drone use authorized by federal, state or Town law, or performed for active law-enforcement purposes, from the permit requirement, and § 57-19(C) exempts the Aerodrome on West Shore Road in Port Washington entirely.