How NYC Agencies Used Drones to Assess an Unstable Building

Uncrewed aircraft played a key role in city agencies’ efforts to determine the extent of the damage.

Jack Daleo

Wednesday, July 08, 2026 at 02:00 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) shared this image of a Manhattan high-rise, in which a support column (center-right) can be seen with visible damage. [Credit: FDNY]

Key Takeaways:

New York City agencies, particularly the FDNY and NYPD, are extensively deploying drones for critical public safety tasks, as seen in their use to assess and monitor a damaged Manhattan high-rise for structural shifts before human entry.
The NYPD's drone program has seen massive growth since 2018, with over 2,500 deployments in a recent quarter, utilizing capabilities like thermal imaging and "beyond visual line of sight" (BVLOS) operations for a wide range of emergency responses including collapsed structures, crime scenes, and earthquake damage.
Drones offer advantages such as quicker deployment, enhanced situational awareness, improved officer safety, and lower operational costs compared to helicopters, but their rapid expansion in law enforcement has raised privacy concerns and calls for increased oversight from advocacy groups.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reported Wednesday morning that there have been no structural shifts to a Manhattan high-rise since damage to the building was uncovered Tuesday, leading city officials to fear a possible collapse. As part of the effort to assess the damage, the city’s Fire Department (FDNY) deployed small drones before sending in people.

Mamdani in a news conference on Tuesday said that “as we await the arrival of materials that will stabilize the building, [New York City Department of Buildings] engineers have been investigating with FDNY drones.”