Photo credit: Matthis Volquardsen from Pexels
by Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D., Board of Directors, GrowNYC, and Co-founder, The Quiet Coalition
Representative Jerry Nadler has introduced legislation that will impose stricter regulations on helicopter tour flights. The legislation will impose minimum altitude and maximum noise limits on all helicopter flights, easing the discomfort experienced by residents in New York and New Jersey who have been complaining for years about these overhead helicopters. It will also allow other states to impose restrictions on tour flights in their communities and will ban tour flights over our National Parks.
Whether the bill introduced by Rep. Nadler will indeed become law is still up in the air. I say this because a similar bill introduced in 2013 was not passed.
Additionally, the New York City Council has introduced a local law, Int. 2026-2020 , that amends the administrative code of the city of New York, to reduce noise from chartered helicopters. A hearing on this bill has been set for Wednesday, February 17 at 10:00 a.m. New Yorkers concerned about noise from overhead helicopters have been invited to attend and testify at this hearing and can register here. And you can view the hearing here.
The word “hope” is heard frequently nowadays. I will use it again by saying, I “hope” Congressman Nadler’s legislation is passed and the New York City Council bill is enacted.
