I think "flight risk" in NY is very common when custody issues come up due to the close proximity to Canada. My mom and step dad live in NY but have three bridges within 2 miles of their home to enter into Canada. Actually there are four bridges but one of them is a "walking bridge" and vehicles are not allowed.
Last year a little boy who lived in Canada right next to the bridge to the US decided to take an adventure and ride his bike over the "big bridge" he saw every day. I think he was like 6yo. Somehow a small child zoomed past customs on his bike on the "walking bridge" to the US and NOBODY noticed.
Now that we have the Nexus card things might be different but it up until that became necessary to enter in to Canada it was *very* easy to gain entry to Canada by pulling up to customs, acknowledging the "arret" sign (:) ) and saying "citizenship US" without ANY documentation.
