After a period of blissful silence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, New Yorkers are again dealing with a familiar problem: noisy helicopters.
“With big helicopters, my apartment vibrates,” said Melissa Elstein, who campaigns for a ban on non-essential helicopter flights.
“They pollute our air, creating noise pollution that has negative health effects,” the 56-year-old told AFP.
New York regularly throngs the skies with circling helicopters as tourists view the city from above during short, pricey, sightseeing tours.
They also transport wealthy residents who are eager to avoid traffic jams on their way to vacation homes by the beach in the stately Hamptons.
Elstein is far from the only New Yorker who is unhappy with the near-constant noise caused by thousands of flights each year.
Last year, the city received 25,821 calls to its hotline complaining about helicopter noise, up from 10,359 in 2020.
Most of the complaints — 21,620 — came from Manhattan.
Some relief is likely.
Earlier this month, the New York state legislature approved a bill that could fine companies up to $10,000 per day for generating “inappropriate” noise levels.
If Governor Kathy Hochul signs it into law, it will be the first law in the state to tackle noise pollution from helicopters.
Senator Brad Hoyleman, who sponsored the bill, said that “many New Yorkers can no longer work comfortably from home, cannot enjoy strolls along the coast, or suffer constant noise and vibration from non-essential helicopter use.” Cause a nap can put a baby to sleep.”
He said that a helicopter produces 43 times more carbon dioxide per hour than an average car.
“Helicopter noise is not just annoying, it’s harmful to our health and our environment,” Hoyleman said in a statement.
For Andy Rosenthal — president of Stop the Chop, an organization of volunteers demanding a ban on non-essential helicopter flights — the law doesn’t go far enough.
“It’s a good first step. (But) it’s not what we had hoped for. The fight is on,” he said.
‘background noise’
New York City has three active heliports: two in Midtown on the Hudson and East Rivers, used for corporate and chartered flights, and the other near Wall Street in lower Manhattan, from where tourist flights depart.
A 15-20 minute aerial view of New York costs at least $200 per tourist.
Amid complaints, the administration of then-mayor Bill de Blasio agreed with the industry to reduce the number of tourist flights per year from 60,000 to 30,000 starting in 2017.
He also banned the ride of tourists from New York City into the airspace over the rivers around Manhattan, banning them from climbing above ground.
Sightseeing helicopters flying from New Jersey are allowed to fly over Manhattan, including Central Park.
Commuter flights from New York City are also allowed to fly directly over buildings.
“This is an industry that should not exist, should not exist. (Just) for the convenience of very few people,” Elstein said.
Some residents, however, have become used to the sound and accept it as a fact of living in America’s bustling financial, cultural, and tourism capital.
“It’s a background noise,” said Mark Robert, who lives near the heliport at the southern tip of Manhattan.
“It feels like it’s part of the experience.”
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