Staten Island residents are renewing their call for relief from persistent helicopter noise that they say is destroying their quality of life.
A number of borough residents have contacted the Advance/SILive.com recently to complain anew about what has become a long-term problem.
“We are experiencing an assault on our quality of life,” said Carol Donovan, president of the Richmondtown & Clarke Avenue Civic Association. “The helicopter traffic is incessant. Flights are very noisy, and typically are 10-15 minutes apart, disturbing our meals, conversations and peace and quiet.”
Houses shake, windows rattle
According to flight-tracking websites, many of the chopper flights originate from Linden Airport in New Jersey.
Included are sightseeing helicopters that take off from Linden and fly over Staten Island as they take tourists on airborne excursions of New York City sites like the Statue of Liberty.
The flights and their attendant noise are most prevalent in the evening hours, residents say, often making a racket until 10 p.m.
Residents have reported that their houses shake and their windows rattle from the noise and that conservations frequently need to be halted because of the clatter.
Donovan said that one area resident resorted to sleeping in their basement because of the noise. Another family said that they planned to get noise-canceling headphones for their son because the chopper noise “is so frightening.”
Vibrations from the helicopter rotors have been known to ripple water in pools during the summer, and borough residents are also experiencing anxiety about potentially toxic pollution being released by the aircraft.
Civic association vice president Susan Conlon said that nobody knows the safety record of these helicopter operators and that there is concern about what would happen if a tour helicopter had to make an emergency landing while over Staten Island.
Conlon said that on this past Christmas Eve, “the flight frequency was about every seven to eight minutes.”
“The flights fly across residential communities here, some as low as four hundred feet,” she said. “They rattle windows and disturb residents with noise.”
‘Flying neighborly’
The Advance/SILive.com began reporting on the helicopter noise issue in 2024.
The Federal Aviation Administration has told the Advance that helicopters typically fly over Staten Island using Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and just outside Newark Airport Class B airspace.
When flying VFR, pilots are not required to be under air traffic control, according to the FAA.
The FAA in addition does not assign specific routes or altitudes to pilots flying VFR outside of the Newark Class B airspace. Pilots often use visual cues such as landmarks, major roads, railways, or waterways to navigate in the uncontrolled airspace.
Pilots operating VFR use a see-and-avoid method to conduct their flights and the responsibility for “flying neighborly” resides with the pilot operating the helicopter, the FAA has said.
The FAA said that helicopters may be operated at lower altitudes if the operation is conducted without hazard to persons or property on the surface.
When asked about the new spate of borough complaints about helicopter noise and about potential enforcement against low-flying choppers, the FAA in an emailed statement said, “If helicopter pilots are following the rules, we cannot impose fines.”
“If a community is concerned about aircraft noise, the best course of action is to contact their local aviation community roundtable or airport operator,” the FAA statement said. “The FAA can then work with airport operators to determine if the aircraft noise can be mitigated through changes in air traffic procedures.”
Residents can go here to lodge complaints about aircraft noise with the FAA.