Drones now spotted over Long Island

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Long Islanders are now asking the same question asked most recently by New Jersey residents: Why are so many drones spotted over our area?

Dozens of drones have been sighted over Port Washington, Huntington, Northport, West Babylon and other locations, according to published reports.

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and Suffolk County Police Department said in a joint statement Monday that “[in] light of the recent drone sightings throughout the East Coast,” the two organizations are “working closely together along with our state and federal law enforcement partners to monitor the situation in real-time.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer called Sunday for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deploy better drone-tracking technology to identify the drones and their operators.

“New Yorkers have tremendous questions about it,” Schumer, the Senate majority leader, said about the drone sightings. “We are going to get the answers for them.”

Yet, the federal government did little to answer those questions in its own media briefings Sunday morning.

“There’s no question that people are seeing drones,” U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “But I want to assure the American public that we are on it. We are working in close coordination with state and local authorities.”

Some of the drones reported above parts of New York and New Jersey have turned out to be “manned aircraft that are commonly mistaken for drones,” Mayorkas said. “We know of no foreign involvement with respect to the sightings in the Northeast. And we are vigilant in investigating this matter.”

Last year, federal aviation rules began requiring certain drones to broadcast their remote identification, including the location of their operators. It’s not clear whether that information has been used to determine who is behind the drones sighted over New York and New Jersey. Mayorkas’ office didn’t respond to questions about whether they’ve been able to identify drones using this capability.

Schumer wants the federal government to use a recently declassified radio wave technology in New York and New Jersey. The radio wave detector can be attached to a drone or airplane and can determine whether another flying object is a bird or a drone, read its electronic registration, and follow it back to its landing place. Schumer said state and local authorities do not have the authority to track drones.

On Sunday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said federal officials were sending a drone detection system to the state.

“This system will support state and federal law enforcement in their investigations,” Hochul said in a statement. No additional details were immediately available about where the system will be deployed.

Last Thursday, Schumer, along with U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker and Andy Kim sent a letter to the DHS, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Aviation Administration requesting a briefing on how the agencies are working with federal and local law enforcement to identify and address the source of recent unmanned aerial system activity in New York and New Jersey.

The “potential safety and security risks posed by these drones in civilian areas is especially pertinent considering recent drone incursions at sensitive military sites in and outside of the continental United States over the past year,” they wrote in the letter.

On Friday, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said on social media that he is “calling on federal elected officials to come forward, be transparent, and tell the public exactly what’s going on.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.