...so I would favor some sensible restrictions
OK, so not NYC, but on a recent business trip to Las Vegas I hired an R44 and flew over the Hoover dam, down the Colorado and then , after dark, did three orbits of the Stratosphere hotel before flying down 'The Strip' and back to the airfield. I must have counted 20 other machines do the same thing in the immediate vicinity and throughout the entire flight I received nothing more than an acknowledgment when i first announced myself to the ATC.
I was shocked when I was told that if I had an R22 license, I could fly
any machine if I could convince the owner would throw [me] the keys. I could also fly over a built up area in a single engined machine and then do all of this all at night - all with no extra qualifications or training!!
It was clear to me that the US needs far tighter control over who can fly what and when; it's amazing to me that there aren't more accidents like this...