Brooklyn, N.Y. - Tourist helicopter flights curbed because of noise

The constant rumble of helicopter noise over Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO may be over, after the city instituted a no-fly zone over the entire borough.

The move to bar sightseeing helicopters comes after months of complaints from Heights residents about chopper noise stemming from a much-used Lower Manhattan helipad.

The new flight plan will eliminate up to 30 percent of those flights, plus all birds-eye tours of the Brooklyn Bridge and other borough attractions.

Also, helicopters will no longer be allowed to fly below 1,500 feet.

“This solution was a quick effort to deal with the problem,” said state Sen. Daniel Squadron (D–Brooklyn Heights), who spearheaded the “Stop the chop” campaign after his office was bombarded with complaints. “It is absolutely a good faith effort, but it’s now up to elected officials to keep a close watch on the progress and make sure the plan has the desired effect.”

The Economic Development Corporation oversees helicopter traffic and negotiated the deal with several Manhattan sightseeing companies, which take off from a helipad near the South Street Seaport in rapid succession during the day.

The agency could not be reached in time for our whirring online deadline.

The whole hubbub began after a heliport on the West Side of Manhattan was closed last year, sending more traffic to the downtown location on the East River. And the opening of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1 earlier this year prompted renewed calls for peace and quiet.

Amid the controversy over noise, one problem emerged: Residents complained that 311 operators were not properly logging noise complaints, resulting in difficulty proving that helicopters were a nuisance.

But the deal calls for a streamlined 311 system to allow complaints to be properly tracked. If the tourism agencies screw up, they’ll be fined and may lose their licenses.

In summary, the deal also calls for:

• No short tours: About 20 percent of sightseeing flights are short, four- to eight-minute flights and are “major contributors” to the noise. They’ve been eliminated.

• No sightseeing over Brooklyn or the Brooklyn Bridge at all.

• New tour routes: Pilots will be forced to take off and land toward the south of the heliport, maximizing their distance from Brooklyn Bridge Park.

• No more gas pains: About 10 percent of flights from the Lower Manhattan pad were simply for refueling purposes. Now, fuel will be available at the heliport.

Brooklyn Paper