Helicopter Noise Continues to Annoy Village Residents

Low-flying helicopters continue to be the bane of New Hyde Park residents as they travel overhead ferrying passengers to and from destinations across Long Island.

Several residents have complained to the board in the past about the continual noise from passing helicopters over the village which are ferrying passengers out to the east end of Long Island.

During the Oct. 1 meeting of the village board, a female resident described the situation as “one of my pet peeves right now,” and hoping the board would “push for some sort of leverage” to curtail the behavior of operators.

“We do plead our cases for our residents but there are other elected officials that you should be reaching out to as well,” mayor Robert Lofaro said in reply, again suggesting that residents contact the office of Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy as well as U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, who made the helicopter noise a point in his last campaign and worked on a plan for an alternative route for the helicopters to follow and an emergency phone number to report low-flying helicopters. Residents should also reach out to U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

However, typically complaints only generate very little fines – about $150 per infraction according to reports – which is negligible on a fare that may run several thousand dollars for a trip to the eastern end of Long Island.

Several months ago deputy mayor Lawrence Montreuil had asked the village attorney if the helicopters would fall under the village’s sound ordinance, but he had received an answer that the village could not impose any regulations upon them as they fall under jurisdiction at the federal level.

One of the next meetings of the Town and Village Airplane Safety Noise Abatement Committee (TVASNAC) is supposedly scheduled for the New Hyde Park Road School in either October or November. Residents are invited to attend the meeting and voice their concerns over the noise levels.

“We want it to go away,” trustee Donald Barbieri said of the noise levels.

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