Federal Government sending drone detection system to NY

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)--There are still unanswered questions when it comes to recent drone sightings in New York State. 

"I’ve gotten top briefings," said Senator Chuck Schumer. "They don’t think they are military, they don’t think they are harmful, but nobody knows where they come from, what they are, and how many are actually drones and how many are other things."

According to Governor Hochul, On December 14th, runways at Stewart Airfield were shut down for about an hour because of drone activity in the airspace.

State Senator Jim Tedisco said drones have been flying over military facilities too. 

"We have one in Milton right now, a naval nuclear facility there, and they were flying drones over that and several other military facilities," explained Tedisco.

The governor has called on the federal government to act.

On Sunday, she notified New Yorkers in a statement saying, “In response to my calls for additional resources, our federal partners are deploying a state-of-the-art drone detection system to New York State. This system will support state and federal law enforcement in their investigations.”

Senator Chuck Schumer has also called for action.

"I have asked the Department of Homeland Security to bring these special robins, which are 360 degree radar, instead of one beam of radar to the New York, New Jersey area to find out what these drones are," said Schumer.

During a press conference, he spoke about legislation that has been introduced in Congress.

"We are gonna put legislation forward that says our local authorities can also be involved in sighting and finding out what the drones are. I think that will help and even our federal authorities know they will need some local help because there are so many drones everywhere made in so many different places."

The governor has stated she wants federal legislation to pass giving more authority to the state so it can respond directly.