Two people have been arrested in connection with a near collision between a NYPD helicopter and an unmanned drone aircraft over the George Washington Bridge Monday.

According to police, the drone was spotted by the helicopter around 12:15 a.m. Monday, where it appeared to be circling the bridge. The drone flew within several hundred feet of the chopper, forcing the police aircraft to change its course to avoid a crash.

Police followed the Unmanned Aircraft System north until it landed near Fort Tyron Park on the corner of Audubon and Fort George Avenues around 12:35 a.m. Helicopter officers radioed to ground forces to find the people flying the UAS.

Remy Castro, 23, of West 193 Street, and Wilkins Mendoza, 34, of Post Road, were quickly arrested. The two men were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court for felony reckless endangerment charges and released without bail.

"It's just a toy," Castro said in court. "The [helicopter] came to us."

Their lawyer, Michael Kushner, said the incident is not as severe as police allege.

"This vehicle can't go above 300 feet," Kushner said. "They did nothing more than fly a kite."

However, police estimate that the UAS was flying nearly 2,000 feet above the water when they encountered it over the George Washington Bridge.

A friend of the men, Johnathan Reyes, 27, said Castro bought a drone about two weeks ago and Mendoza quickly got one as well. The drones cost between $500 and $700 each.

"When they first got them, everyone was going crazy and saying, 'That's some alien stuff!'" Reyes said. Castro and Mendoza have flown their drones around the neighborhood several times and posted video recordings of the flights on Instagram.

A source told the New York Post that while UAS are relatively small, the situation is still "very dangerous."

"Although [drones] may only weigh a few pounds, that's all birds weigh, and look what they did to the Sully Airbus," the source said, referring to the 2009 "Miracle on the Hudson," in which US Airways pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger had to crash-land a jenliner in the Hudson River after a collision with a bird.