I have 2 of the 2 channel mini IR micro helis that I fly in the office at work on weekends. A co-axial Lama v4 also flies indoors and in the street outside my front door. I can fly my Honeybee FP & Eagle 50 in a small park in my neighborhood. The bigger Belt CP only flies at a City Park down the street when I can get out there & nobody is at one end of the park, away from the picnic benches & people. The bigger the open area the better. A grassy field is more forgiving for hard landings than is concrete.

Not sure about Central Park, but there should be a Parks & Recreation Dept. that could answer your question. Being New York, I'd not be surprised if you would need some kind of permit. Emphasise to them that it's a battery-powered electric heli, not gas & that it is really quiet. Doubt they would realize the sophistication of an electric heli & think it's just some toy filled with flashlight batteries

Many may disagree, but if I had to begin all over again, I'd start with a co-axial like the Lama 3 or 4, since they are virtually crashproof & cheap to maintain. They are controllable in smaller flying areas like out in the street & will give you the feel of joystick control & the fundamentals of fore & backward as well as side to side motion & how to adjust controls. For me, the Co-axial has been more useful by far than the flight simulator.

I'm able to use the same 4 channel transmitter for both my Lama & Honeybee FP.

Once you can fly the co-axial, get a fixed-pitch like the Honeybee. It's more difficult to fly then even some of the bigger & more expensive collective-pitch helis, but it is easy to maintain & when you manage to crash hard enough to break something, the parts are really cheap. And you will likely crash it more often than the co-axial. You can upgrade the HBFP with Superskids that give you a beefier set of skids & landing gear & better balance, & also add a LiPO battery that extends fly time.

It's best to start out cheap & progress to more sophisticated helis as your proficiency progresses.

You can get the Lama 3 for around $69.95, the Lama 4 for $89, & the Honeybee FP for around $99, or Falcon 40 for $89. Take a look at www.xheli.com. They have good prices & a more complete inventory of spare parts than almost anyone else. Shipping for orders of $50 or more is free with coupon code CJFREE2. Order extra blades at the same time you get a co-axial; order a couple of extra (cheap) rotor heads at the same time you would get a Honeybee FP & don't worry about the blades - I have spare blades, but am still on the original set on my HBFP#4. If you progress too soon to something like the Eagle 50, or really any of the collective pitch 6 channel helis, plan on burning up your parts budget on lots of spare blades. I crashed thru several sets of blades & some spare parts when I got my Eagle 50. I backed off & got the Honeybee & now haven't had to change blades on the Eagle 50 since then.

Don't be put off by those who complain about crappy customer service from Xheli - it's largely true if you try to reach them by phone. Instead, Andy is an Xheli rep & Forum Host at the Exceed RC Forums here at RC universe. I've PM'ed him a few times on replacement issues & he's always been able to make everything right with minimal delay. Say what you want about lousy Xheli e-mail & phone service, but nobody can fault Andy for his prompt follow-up on Xheli issues needing immediate attention. Without him, I'd 'prolly not give them any further business, either.

Keep in mind that the title "Ready To Fly" is more wishful thinking on the part of the manufacturer & not an empirical fact. Whatever you decide to get first, check in here at the forums afterward & someone can point you towards prepping your particular heli. model for it's first flight. Most common issues are: tightening down all screws, adjusting the center of gravity (HBFP's are notoriously tail-heavy), making sure the flybar is centered & the paddles are level, blades tracking and leveling the swashplate. All are easy to do as long as you are aware of the procedures & get tips on what to look for.

Start cheap & progress from there. For $400, you can get your first 2 helis, a bunch of spare parts & still have money left over for a really big lunch (and extra batteries).

The Yellow Heli in my Avitar is the Honeybee #4 (FP) with the LiPO battery, Superskids landing gear & tail struts & tail wings installed. Once balanced & swashplate zeroed out, it is a joy to fly, nevertheless it still presents a challenge if you have any attention deficit at all.

If you can fly a FP well, you will be able to sooner successfully fly bigger & more sophisticated helis. In the long run, your wallet will thank you for it