New York City’s 2026 mayoral inauguration of Zohran Mamdani has published a list of banned items for the event, specifically prohibiting the Flipper Zero and Raspberry Pi devices.
As first reported by Adafruit, the ban list appears in the inauguration event’s official FAQ, which lists items that may or may not be brought to the event.
The list of prohibited items also includes large bags, backpacks and duffle bags, weapons, fireworks or explosives, drones and other remote-controlled aerial devices, strollers, coolers, chairs, blankets, umbrellas, bicycles or scooters, alcoholic beverages, illegal substances, pets other than service animals, laser pens, and bats or batons.
The Flipper Zero is a handheld device for learning and testing wireless communication protocols, including RFID, NFC, infrared, Bluetooth, and radio signals. It is commonly used by security researchers, developers, and hobbyists for protocol analysis and penetration testing.
A Raspberry Pi is a low-cost, general-purpose single-board computer capable of running standard Linux distributions and a wide range of software. Available in multiple configurations, the devices can be expanded using add-on modules and peripherals, enabling them to perform many of the same tasks as a desktop or laptop computer.
Unlike most other items on the prohibited list, which are grouped into general categories, both devices are specifically named, rather than being restricted under a general computing or wireless device category.
Devices such as the Flipper Zero have previously drawn scrutiny from governments, which have raised concerns about their potential use in car theft, network breaches, and other forms of cybercrime. In some cases, this has led to proposals to restrict or ban the devices, as well as seizures, though planned prohibitions have been rolled back.
Online retailers have also banned the device in the past, with Amazon prohibiting Flipper Zero listings out of concerns it could be used for card skimming.
However, the ban of these devices from the event has caused confusion, as laptops and mobile phones are not listed among the prohibited items, despite having equal or greater technical functionality.
“On the list of prohibited items published in advance, in addition to classic sources of danger such as firearms, drones, and glass bottles, two devices from the IT world are explicitly named: the Raspberry Pi and the Flipper Zero,” security professional Stefan Klatt posted on X.
“How do you say that you have no idea without saying it?”
Modern laptops can run penetration-testing Linux distributions such as Kali Linux, and smartphones can run advanced security toolsets like Kali NetHunter.
Event organizers have not provided any details explaining why the Flipper Zero and Raspberry Pi were singled out.
BleepingComputer has contacted the Mamdani campaign’s press office for comment and will update the story if a response is received.
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