Did the New York’s police close airspace to prevent news helicopters from getting footage of police action against Occupy Wall Street protesters?
That is certainly the story—it has been widely reported by outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker, Slate, The New York Review of Books, CBS, The Atlantic, Time, Gothamist, and The Nation and held up as proof that Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD were up to things so sinister that their media blackout included the skies.
This idea became part of the story during last Tuesday’s morning’s raid on Zuccotti Park when Anthony De Rosa, Reuters’ social media editor tweeted:
I just spoke with the CBS News desk and they were told to leave the airspace above Zuccotti Park by NYPD
De Rosa’s message was retweeted more than 100 times, and cited in numerous news accounts, including those above.
But while the idea that airspace was closed is convenient to the media blackout narrative, the police department doesn’t have that power. And that’s something New York’s chopper-owning stations ought to know.
The FAA has the authority to close airspace, not the NYPD. While the FAA will close airspace in response to requests made for public safety and security reasons, the FAA did not receive any requests from city or NYPD officials to close airspace above Southern Manhattan last week, according to Arlene Salac, a public affairs officer with the agency’s Eastern Region. Salac confirms that it was not, indeed, closed.
A NYPD spokesman also denied ever closing airspace in a succinct email—written in all caps—to CJR: “NYPD CANNOT , AND DID NOT CLOSE AIR SPACE. ONLY FAA CAN DO THAT. NO INDICATION IT DID.”
The NYPD tweeted as much last Thursday after WNBC incorrectly reported that its news chopper had been ordered out of airspace above the protests:
NBC New York’s chopper told by NYPD to move- airspace being closed over protests. #OWS via @NBCNewYork
From the @nypdnews:
@NBCNews @NBCNewYork NYPD has never closed airspace and it is not our authority to do so.
WNBC issued a correction tweet, which was retweeted, but which hasn’t made most, if any, press reports:
CORRECTION: Chopper 4 pilot misunderstood directions from the tower. He was NOT ordered out of airspace over protests. #OWS #N17
While WCBS did not respond to CJR’s request for comment, the available evidence suggests that CBS did actually believe they’d been ordered out of lower Manhattan. (After De Rosa’s initial tweet, Mediabistro followed up and confirmed it with a reporter from the station.) It appears that there was either some sort of miscommunication or, more troubling, a misunderstanding by CBS and much of the media about what the NYPD has the power to do—and tell them to do with their helicopters.
It’s important the media get these facts right—both for the record and for the sake of reporting the next time press choppers are needed in unfriendly skies.
An example of how false information rockets around the media-political echo chamber. It is obvious from the sources that repeated this story that their political ideology disposed them to believe the story, which fits a pre-existing narrative of events such as Occupy Wall Street, without checking to see if it was true. Not the first time that this has happened. Kudos to Erika Fry.
#1 Posted by Mark Richard, CJR on Tue 22 Nov 2011 at 04:50 PM
maybe nypd tried and succeeded
#2 Posted by steve white, CJR on Tue 22 Nov 2011 at 05:20 PM
If anything, this just further illustrates how compromised the mainstream media are. All the police have to do is to request that the news helicopters leave right before they start gassing and beating people and the media outlets are more than happy to comply. Perhaps they forgot what they were taught in journalism school which is that their job is to report the news, whether it is in concert with police wishes or not.
#3 Posted by Kendall, CJR on Tue 22 Nov 2011 at 05:30 PM
Erika,
I think, until CBS comments, it is a little credulous to simple call it a "misunderstanding" on the part of CBS, don't you agree? The fact that the NYPD states it "does not have the power" to close airspace is rather irrelevant, since the NYPD does (or tries to do) all sorts of things it does not have the official power to do, as the events of last week prove.
Chris
#4 Posted by C.W. Anderson, CJR on Tue 22 Nov 2011 at 05:34 PM
Many illegal intimidation tactics used against protesters and media rely on us not knowing our rights. What else accounts for this constant catch & release strategy where people are arrested but never charged?
The chopper was told to move and understood they were being ordered out.
#5 Posted by Windy, CJR on Tue 22 Nov 2011 at 05:42 PM
I think a better headline would be:
Zuccotti Park’s Airspace Was Never *Officially* Closed
The FAA was not Contacted, NYPD Claims It Did Not Give Orders
Then I'd work real hard at ascertaining who gave the chopper 4 pilot the impression the NYPD closed airspace and what exactly was said to give the "wrong" impression.
#6 Posted by Thimbles, CJR on Wed 23 Nov 2011 at 03:00 AM
Maybe Channel 4 uses a Chittum 5000 Black Helicopter. I understand that these choppers' flight computers are preprogrammed by "Wall Street" traders to misinterpret flight control instructions.
But seriously.... Judging from the smell of the place, I bet it was the EPA that closed the airspace over the park.
#7 Posted by padikiller, CJR on Wed 23 Nov 2011 at 05:55 AM
Go to the LiveATC.com to hear Newar Tower "tell" Chopper 2 to relocate 1 mile to the west....the tape never lies.......
#8 Posted by me, CJR on Wed 23 Nov 2011 at 08:49 PM
As I pilot, if the tower tells you to move out of an airspace, you don't ask "yeah, and who says so"...Will be the end of your license... It is just like a traffic cop who points a big finger at you and says "No- turn left"....whatcha gonnna do...tell him no....Tower says "do it" you react and don't argue.... yes, in fact the airspace was not closed but it was suggested strongly to get the heck out of there....
#9 Posted by Ted, CJR on Wed 23 Nov 2011 at 08:55 PM
this is from www.breakingnewsnetwork.com
11/17/2011 5:43:22 PM NY| New York| Manhattan| Unusual Incident| New York| WNYW 5 news helicopter reported over the air while giving a news report that they were asked to leave their location, this was due to loosing radar with control tower. (due to multiple helicopters being in the air at the same location, moving the chopper re-registers them with the radar).| NJ485 #436118
#10 Posted by izzy, CJR on Thu 24 Nov 2011 at 12:36 PM
If you listened to the live WCBS feed that night of the OWS eviction, which I did live as it was available online via Livestream, it was explicitly stated that the NYPD told WCBS NOT to put their copter over OWS and that the airspace was closed. The WCBS helicopter was there, then returned to base to refuel, and the helicopter pilot (or whoever's voice from the helicopter was audible on the feed# made clear the NYPD removed them from the airspace. This wasn't in dispute at the time. The pilot #or other person's voice) then had the issue cleared through "management" and the helicopter returned to its base because it was restricted to the NJ side. It was fascinating to watch the eviction on live TV and I was disappointed that it ended when the helicopter was banned from being over the OWS site.
#11 Posted by steve, CJR on Tue 7 Feb 2012 at 03:18 PM