Fed Up by Choppers? New City Council Bill to Reduce Helicopter Noise

Zijie Young: It’s a big day for helicopter legislation in New York. The City Council will be considering four different proposals on helicopters today  . This comes two weeks after a fatal crash in the Hudson that killed six people. Oona Milliken has more on the proposals. 

Oona Milliken Milliken: It’s a sunny day, and Kamal Haruna is walking a couple of blocks from water in the west sixties. He lives nearby and he says helicopter flights along the Hudson River are disruptive. 

Kamal Haruna: Sometimes you want to sit by the river and relax and you hear the noise like “roo roo,” like it’s horrible.

Milliken: Haruna’s doesn’t like the loud flights along the water. But there are roughly 30,000 tourism flights that originate from Manhattan’s downtown each year. And some fly over the river. 

Haruna: That kind of sound constantly, and you don’t need it. Sometimes after a long day, you want to relax, you want to repose. 

Milliken: Helicopter complaints have skyrocketed in the past couple of years. That’s according to 311 data compiled by Business Insider. In 2019, the city received more than three thousand noise complaints about helicopters. Last year? More than twenty-eight thousand. 

Milliken: City Council majority leader Amanda Farías is trying to solve this problem. She’s proposed legislation which requires more robust noise standards for non-essential flights over New York City. Essentially, if her bill becomes law. Helicopters wouldn’t be able to fly unless they meet Federal Aviation Administration’s noise requirements.

Nearby, Mike Crook is walking his dog next to West End Park. He lives off the West Side highway. He says sometimes the noise is just an inconvenience, but other times it can be relentless. Especially sound from military aircraft, which aren’t covered by Farias’ bill. 

Mike Crook: If we’re on the river, we couldn’t have this conversation now. We’d have to stop. 

Milliken: The legislation to combat helicopter noise is not the only helicopter related topic of discussion downtown in City Hall today. Councilmember Gale Brewer sponsored a resolution to ban all non-essential helicopter travel over New York City. And Councilmember Jim Gennaro proposed a noise tax on non-essential helicopters and seaplane flights. 

Milliken: Back Uptown on the Westside Highway, helicopters are flying up and down the Hudson. 

Milliken: I decided to take an unscientific count. 

Milliken: Four helicopters are flying over my head in succession. There’s the fourth one right now.  

Milliken: Despite the number of helicopters over the city, some residents aren’t bothered by the noise. A few blocks East, David Romero is pushing his daughter in a stroller. He says that noise is a part of living in Manhattan. And people who don’t like it can live somewhere else. 

His baby is taking a nap and sleeps right through our interview. 

David Romero: I got my baby right here, she falls asleep so easily outside. It's like all the noise in the city becomes a white noise, it becomes a sort of music if you see it that way

Milliken: Councilmember Amanda Farias’ bill prohibiting loud non-essential helicopters is expected to pass. In the meantime, a flight tracker shows eight helicopters in the air around Manhattan. 

Milliken: Oona, Milliken, Columbia Radio News.