S.T.O.P. Warns NYC Flood Alert Drone Stunt “Won’t Hold Water”

Today, S.T.O.P. warned Eric Adams’ launch of a drone alert system to warn New Yorkers of potential flash flooding “won’t hold water.”

For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Warns NYC Flood Alert Drone Stunt “Won’t Hold Water” (New York, NY, 8/6/2024) - Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, warned Eric Adams’ launch of a drone alert system to warn New Yorkers of potential flash flooding “won’t hold water.” S.T.O.P. noted that a cell-phone alert system is both more effective at reaching New Yorkers and far less expensive than drone deployment. The civil rights group previously raised concerns over NYPD’s pilot of “public messaging” drones to broadcast audio alerts about extreme weather and other emergencies. SEE: The New York Times - That Drone in the Sky Is Here to Warn New Yorkers About Flooding https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/06/nyregion/drones-eric-adams-flooding.html Press Release - S.T.O.P. Concerned By NYPD ‘Public Messaging’ Drones https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2023/7/17/stop-concerned-by-nypd-public-messaging-drones “The Mayor’s latest drone plan just doesn’t hold water,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “At a moment when we’ve never had more communication tools to warn more New Yorkers, why do we need another dystopian drone? City officials can warn millions of New Yorkers through a single emergency cellphone alert, so why waste money on drones that will only be in earshot of a handful of people? This is yet another expensive PR stunt to draw attention away from the City’s decade-long failure to learn the lessons of Super Storm Sandy. New Yorkers in low-lying areas need improved catch basins, not kitschy robots. It would cost tens, hundreds of millions of dollars to have enough drones to warn the whole city, but sending an emergency alert message is free.” SEE: S.T.O.P. Blog – NYC is becoming a drone dystopia https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2024/4/9/nyc-is-becoming-a-drone-dystopia The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color. --END-- CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. Copyright © 2021 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved.