New Yorkers are still reeling from the shocking events that happened on a Manhattan bound train on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, at around 8:30 am, when 62 year old Frank R. James, wearing a gas mask, threw smoke grenades and opened fire inside the train filled with morning commuters. The attack left 29 people injured, 10 of whom suffered gunshot wounds. The incident marks a trend in New York City as crime rates have steadily increased over the last year, causing many to question Mayor Eric Adams’s plans to keep New Yorkers safe.

Since being sworn into office on January 1, 2022, one of Adams’s promises has been to increase the city’s technology for safety parameters. On March 16, 2022, Adams showed his commitment to creating a safer New York by attending the entirety of an event sponsored by the Israel-NYC Chamber of Commerce, the Government of Israel Economic Mission to the U.S. East Coast, and the Israel-United States Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation called “NY + Israel = Smarter, Safer Cities”. The goal of this event was to promote some of the many Israeli owned startups in NY that have been working towards the public safety and management of a better NYC. Helping contribute to this movement is a $1million match round of funding supplied by the BIRD foundation for joint research and development projects between Israeli and American enterprises.

One of these joint ventures brings together two technology entrepreneurs who met while officers in the Israeli Air Force officers, Ido Gur and Ben Alfi. In 2014, Ido opened Easy Aerial out of Brooklyn, which provides autonomous drone monitoring solutions. Based out of Tel Aviv, Ben founded Blue White Robotics in 2017, providing autonomous aerial and ground solutions around the world, based on proven military implementations. In 2018, with support from BIRD, Ido and Ben reunited, working towards developing autonomous drone security solutions for an urban environment like NYC.

As Ido and Ben explained in their presentation, they hope to place drones on strategic rooftops around NYC. These drones would not replace the manually operated ones already in use by the NYPD but supplement them. If an incident occurs, a push of a button will alert the closest drone to autonomously spring into action. The drones are equipped with sensors that allow them to safely navigate complex urban environments. The drones also have AI software that can identify cars, people, and more. Mayor Adams seemed very excited about the possibilities of such a drone network and how it could support the already existing security frameworks in the city.

Ben told Mayor Adams that the drones could work much like how stationary security cameras around NYC do, all with respect to civilian privacy concerns. “The information is always secure,” he said. “Slowly and surely, we’ll see more drones, and we’ll get used to it like it’s an iPhone, while making sure privacy is met along the way. It’s already here.” The NYPD has not commented yet as to such a collaboration. It is a bit premature to speculate as to whether such a drone network could have assisted in a faster apprehension of a suspect leaving the scene of a crime, like Frank James. But as Ido proudly said, his collaboration with Ben is a win-win for everyone. “We bring technology from Israel, and we create jobs here in New York,” he said. “New Yorkers can benefit from that technology, either from safety, or medicine, or agriculture and many other avenues.”