Not sure why i bothered but I looked up ny admin code. The only thing I could find was this:
York City Administrative Code
§ 10-126 Avigation in and over the city. a. Definitions. When used in
this section the following words or terms shall mean or include:
1. "Aircraft." Any contrivance, now or hereafter invented for
avigation or flight in the air, including a captive balloon, except a
parachute or other contrivance designed for use, and carried primarily
as safety equipment.
2. "Place of landing." Any authorized airport, aircraft landing site,
sky port or seaplane base in the port of New York or in the limits of
the city.
3. "Limits of the city." The water, waterways and land under the
jurisdiction of the city and the air space above same.
4. "Avigate." To pilot, steer, direct, fly or manage an aircraft in or
through the air, whether controlled from the ground or otherwise.
5. "Congested area." Any land terrain within the limits of the city.
6. "Person." A natural person, co-partnership, firm, company,
association, joint stock association, corporation or other like
organization.
b. Parachuting. It shall be unlawful for any person to jump or leap
from an aircraft in a parachute or any other device within the limits of
the city except in the event of imminent danger or while under official
orders of any branch of the military service.
c. Take offs and landings. It shall be unlawful for any person
avigating an aircraft to take off or land, except in an emergency, at
any place within the limits of the city other than places of landing
designated by the department of transportation or the port of New York
authority.
d. Advertising. 1. It shall be unlawful for any person to use, suffer
or permit to be used advertising in the form of towing banners from or
upon an aircraft over the limits of the city, or to drop advertising
matter in the form of pamphlets, circulars, or other objects from an
aircraft over the limits of the city, or to use a loud speaker or other
sound device for advertising from an aircraft over the limits of the
city. Any person who employs another to avigate an aircraft for
advertising in violation of this subdivision shall be guilty of a
violation hereof.
2. Any person who employs, procures or induces another to operate,
avigate, lend, lease or donate any aircraft as defined in this section
for the purpose of advertising in violation of this subdivision shall be
guilty of a violation hereof.
3. The use of the name of any person or of any proprietor, vendor or
exhibitor in connection with such advertising shall be presumptive
evidence that such advertising was conducted with his or her knowledge
and consent.
e. Dangerous or reckless operation or avigation. It shall be unlawful
for any person to operate or avigate an aircraft either on the ground,
on the water or in the air within the limits of the city while under the
influence of intoxicating liquor, narcotics or other habit-forming
drugs, or to operate or avigate an aircraft in a careless or reckless
manner so as to endanger life or property of another. In any proceeding
or action charging careless or reckless operation or avigation of
aircraft in violation of this section, the court, in determining whether
the operation or avigation was careless or reckless, shall consider the
standards for safe operation or avigation of aircraft prescribed by
federal statutes or regulations governing aeronautics.
f. Air traffic rules. It shall be unlawful for any person to navigate
an aircraft within the limits of the city in any manner prohibited by
any provision of, or contrary to the rules and regulations of, the
federal aviation administration.
g. Reports. It shall be unlawful for the operator or owner of an
aircraft to fail to report to the police department within ten hours a
forced landing of aircraft within the limits of the city or an accident
to an aircraft where personal injury, property damage or serious damage
to the aircraft is involved.
h. Rules and regulations. The police commissioner is authorized to
make such rules and regulations as the commissioner may deem necessary
to enforce the provisions of this section.
i. Violations. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this
section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Considering how vague they define aircraft I suppose it would fit. My guess is they used this as a generic charge because there isn't anything specific to drones.