BUFFALO, N.Y. — Questions are being raised about kite rules after a man was surrounded by five park police officers at Buffalo Outer Harbor State Park on Sunday.
“A park ranger came and said you need to take those down. And we were nice to him and said no sir it’s a special day, it doesn’t come around in Buffalo that often where you have a perfect sunny day and 10 mph winds” said Jim Emanuele, who was flying about 10 kites with a friend in the park.
After refusing to take down the kites, the situation escalated.
“I’ve been here before and they told me to take it down. That’s why I don’t come here often” said Emanuele.
As it turns out, kite flying is not allowed in Buffalo State Park without a permit.
“It’s a wrong policy, why you can't fly kites here right here on the outer harbor. People enjoy, there’s no risk, there’s no powerlines there’s no airport around here so what is the reason that you cannot fly kites here”
Channel Two reached out to New York State Parks for an answer. In a statement released to us, they said quote:
“large kites such as the ones in question can pose a safety risk to park patrons or result in property damage, which is why state park regulations require permits to fly such kites. In this case, no permit was requested or granted.”
Jim says that for him and many other kite flyers, permits are not ideal because you just never know when a perfect kite day will be – but despite the unpredictability, the rule still stands.