Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Videos: The NYPD Is Monitoring Social Distancing On The Ground & From The Skies
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 31, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Scott Lynch / Gothamist
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 31, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Yesterday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he had authorized the NYPD to begin enforcing social distancing throughout the city, including on mass transit, with fines up to $500. "At this point, we've said it, we've educated, we've given people the message," he said. "Anyone who isn't social distancing at this point actually is putting other people in danger, and if we have to give them fines we will." The NYPD had already been out trying to monitor those social distancing guidelines—both via messaging on the ground, and monitoring from the skies above the city.
Below, you can see a video Police Commissioner Dermot Shea posted to Twitter that shows some aerial footage, which makes it look like a video game, over multiple locations in the city, including Carl Schurz Park, Inwood Hill Park and Juniper Valley Park. The NYPD confirmed the video was taken last Wednesday, March 25th (which was rainy), from a "helicopter." An NYPD spokesperson did not respond to an inquiry about how frequently they're patrolling the parks from the skies, and if the department was also using drones to monitor park density.
Back in 2018, when the NYPD began employing unmanned drones, they told the NY Times, "they will not be used for routine police patrols, unlawful surveillance or to enforce traffic laws." The Free Thought Project writes that the creator of one of those drone companies admitted that they could be used for these kinds of purposes: “What we saw in China, and what we’re probably going to see around the world, is using drones with cameras and loudspeakers to fly around to see if people are gathering where they shouldn’t be, and telling them to go home,” Spencer Gore, chief executive of U.S.-based drone company Impossible Aerospace, said. “It seems a little Orwellian, but this could save lives.”
What's more telling is that the footage and the subsequent tweet—in which Shea said they've seen "nearly 100% compliance"— doesn't quite line up with reality. As has been reported throughout the last week, people have flocked to public parks during warm weather days, often clustering at a time when experts are begging people to avoid large crowds. They also did so when the USNS Comfort hospital boat arrived on Monday, with gawkers swarming the area to get a closer look.
On the street level, with crime overall down, the NYPD has been engaged in educating people and visiting businesses to enforce the social distancing guidelines. Since Saturday, March 21st, the NYPD began "a new series of patrols in connection with monitoring locations and educating members of the public on safe social distancing." That has included officers stopping by public areas and "reminding individuals gathered to be aware of their distance from each other," in addition to ongoing surveys of supermarkets, restaurants, bars, parks and personal care locations "to insure their compliance with current mandates."
That first weekend, the NYPD said officers handed out six verbal warnings for crowd conditions at various supermarkets; one summons to a Bronx restaurant for failing to comply with the rules; two arrests in Queens for an unlicensed bottle club; and over 60 verbal warnings to various personal care facilities and individuals for not complying.
In the week since then, police say there's only been one arrest and four criminal court summons, which were all issued this past weekend. They note that officers have visited between 5,000-7,000 restaurants & bars each day this week, between 1,500-2,600 supermarkets a day, and over the weekend, over 1,400 public places.
You can see some examples of officers using bullhorns and squad cars to engage with people below.
So far, nearly 900 NYPD officers have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Monday, with more than 4,600 officers, or nearly 15% of the force, calling in sick daily; so far, five NYPD employees have died from coronavirus. Shea talked about the enforcement in the interview below as well: "We're out there enforcing social distancing, and I'm sure there's gonna be questions on that. Are we looking to summons people? That's the last thing we're looking to do. But we have to make sure people understand the gravity of this situation, and do everything you can to help us. No need to put front line people at more risk. We're gonna ask, we're gonna educate. If we have to, we'll summons, but we don't want to. Please do everything you can to stay inside."
Tagged
social distancing
COVID-19
coronavirus
nypd
drones
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
5 men charged with trespassing in 2 Manhattan manhole cases
Two people who were found soaking wet and smelling of sewage say they went underground to look for jewelry, according to police and a criminal complaint.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 23, 2026 at 7:49 p.m. ET
6-year-old girl breaks leg after getting hit by falling bricks in Queens
The girl was walking with her mother in Maspeth on Thursday. The Department of Buildings cited the owner of a garage for “failure to maintain” it.
By
Charles Lane
News
6-year-old girl breaks leg after getting hit by falling bricks in Queens
The girl was walking with her mother in Maspeth on Thursday. The Department of Buildings cited the owner of a garage for “failure to maintain” it.
By
Charles Lane
Mamdani extends ban on permits for new street fairs due to NYPD overtime
By
Carol Chen
Inside the Midtown Bus Terminal rebuild: Decks over Lincoln Tunnel approach, a new park
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Black couple seeking Queens apartment sues over racist text from broker
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .