New York City’s “Fan Man” has pleaded guilty to illegally flying above the Big Apple, but he’s vowing to form an advocacy group to defend every American’s right to fly.
Johnathan Warren, known for soaring high above the city’s waterways in a lightweight fan-powered paraglider, had his day in court on Saturday, three weeks after police arrested him for landing his aircraft at Calvert Vaux Park on Gravesend Bay. The NYPD at the time alleged he parachuted off the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge following the New York City marathon. But Warren, 40, said the flight started and ended at the same park.
Police seized his aircraft and charged him with felony reckless endangerment. The felony charge was dropped by the time he appeared at Brooklyn Criminal Court over the weekend. Warren copped to a lesser violation of disorderly conduct. A judge sentenced him to four days of community service.
Warren argued his fan-powered flights comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations that permit “ultralight” aircrafts to fly over “uncongested” areas. But prosecutors argued he broke city laws by flying in a park. He said he’s working to form a nonprofit called the Paramotor Flight Standards Association that will push lawmakers to carve out spaces where he and other Fan People can legally take off and land.
“It is my belief that local laws that make it difficult to legally operate ultralight aircraft frustrates the intent of the FAA and make the national airspace system less safe,” he wrote in an email. “Rather than have a big fight … I’m looking forward to setting up meetings over the winter and spring with various city entities to hopefully get an explicit landing site or two set up next year under a not-for-profit community organization.”
Warren said he aims to make his advocacy group a national organization, with him running the New York City chapter. He said other people could start their own district offices in cities across the country. He’s waiting to speak with the FAA to clear the name, since it sounds closely similar to the agency’s “Flight Standards District Offices.”
Warren said he believes the NYPD will allow him to retrieve his $12,000 fan-powered paraglider now that his case has been settled. He said he’d remain grounded until the local officials tell him his flights are legal.
The “Fan Man” said in the two years since he took up the hobby, he’s flown between New York and New Jersey more than 30 times, including flying along the water by Coney Island and crossing Gravesend Bay to Staten Island.
