Well, the Labor Day weekend has arrived and…sadly…the summer vacation season is
at an end. But the good news…the helicopters that have made such a racket this summer on Long Island will not be
flying as much.
A TV commercial tells the story:
"Liberty helicopters," it proclaims, "Rising above the traffic. Manhattan
to the Hamptons in 40 minutes."
Yes, but at what cost to the people below?
At a public hearing in July on a master plan for East Hampton Airport-the destination
for many of the choppers-Kathie Goldman, a resident of Northwest Woods in East Hampton, spoke of "so many
helicopters coming over my house" that it's been like "Apocalypse Now."
Indeed, the noise from helicopters this summer has replicated a war zone. The choppers
have been flying from New York to Long Island at a rate never before seen, or more precisely, heard.
The folks on the ground, maybe not as well-heeled as those well-heeled visitors
but they still have plenty of votes-must press their campaign against noisy chopper traffic. It's time helicopters
be banned or severely restricted at area airports. Enough is enough.
As to what the industry claims would be voluntary noise abatement, there's a bridge
in Brooklyn…
Todd Rome of Southampton, president of Blue Star Jets, in a recent op-ed piece in
the New York Times, urged working "with helicopter operators to voluntarily reduce noise."
He was promptly answered by a letter to the editor of the Times from Gail Clyma
of Westhampton, a member of the aptly-named Coalition Against Airport Pollution.
She noted that the manager of Gabreski Airport in Westhampton instituted a voluntary
noise abatement program last year-part of which involves choppers arriving and departing over State Route 27. "Yet,"
she wrote, "many if not most helicopters are continuing to fly low over residential areas in violation of
the voluntarily guidelines."
Ms. Clyma commented on how the choppers have been "literally rattling dishes
in the cupboards" and have "become a significant blight on the quality of life."
The racket must end. We might take a lesson from France on how to end it. After
the outrage of people along the Gulf of Saint-Tropez area to chopper-flying vacationers, officials have begun to
shut down helicopter landing pads.
A public nuisance is involved. If helicopters can't be banned or severely restricted
at the fields harboring them here, those airports should be closed.
I'm Karl Grossman and that's my opinion.
Coalition Against Airport Pollution