Drones spotted in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

BAY RIDGE, Brooklyn (PIX11) -- Residents of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn are now reporting drone sightings. It comes as drones were reported over Staten Island and above numerous communities in New Jersey.

Diane Atkins of Brooklyn took several videos of the unidentified objects flying near the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge around 11 p.m. Sunday. She believes they were all drones. Atkins tells PIX11 News "There had to be 10, maybe 12 total of these things, they came closer, went over my building, you could hear the roar of the motor. It seemed pretty large. Definitely not planes, and there were too many of them. There's no way planes could fly that close together."

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis shared Atkins's videos on X, writing that the FAA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and NYPD "should let the public know what's going on here? Are these drones and why are they flying over sensitive facilities and infrastructure?"

On Monday, PIX11 News asked Governor Phil Murphy about all the drone sightings in New Jersey in recent weeks. Murphy said "We don't see any concern for public safety that's number one. Number two, having said that, it's really frustrating we don't have more answers as to where they're coming from and why they're doing what they're doing.”

Murphy went on to say "I was on with the White House and Homeland Security leadership literally at the very top, yesterday pretty much all day. I'm hoping we will get answers sooner than later."

When asked why it was so hard to get answers, Murphy replied "This is apparently, as I understand it, very sophisticated. The minute you get eyes on them, they go dark."

He added "This is something we're taking deadly seriously. We've gotten good cooperation out of feds, but we need more."

The FBI's Newark Field Office has been leading the investigation into the New Jersey sightings. In a statement last week, a spokeswoman told PIX11 News “We understand the concern, and we are doing all we can to figure out what's going on. We truly don't have much information to provide at the moment.”

The FBI said you can report drone sightings by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or by uploading pictures and videos to tips.fbi.gov