A company that is being blamed for helicopter noise that’s destroying the quality of life for Staten Islanders is mum on what they’ve done or can do to improve the situation.
A number of Staten Islanders have reached out the Advance/SILive.com recently to complain anew about persistent helicopter noise that disrupts their lives in the evening and nighttime hours.
The issue first reared its head in 2024, with community residents and elected officials taking up the charge.
But the clatter persists.
Islanders say that air traffic websites show that helicopter company HeliNY, which flies nighttime sightseeing trips out of Linden Airport in New Jersey, regularly sends its choppers over Staten Island.
HeliNY was also cited when Staten Island elected officials previously raised the alarm about the intrusive chopper flights.
Irwin Baron of Great Kills said that he had complained to the Federal Aviation Administration about the noise.
“On a daily basis there is an abundance of helicopter activity especially between the evening hours of 8 p.m. to 12 a.m.,” he said. “They fly very low and very near residential areas even blocks away.”
Baron continued, “The activity is disturbing, loud and you can actually feel vibrations from their flyby. This has to be addressed immediately and action taken.”
Staten Islanders have complained that the persistent racket drowns out conversation and makes it difficult to enjoy their backyards and other outdoor spaces.
One resident said that they’ve taken to sleeping in their basement in order to escape the noise, while another said that the vibration from the rotors of the low-flying aircraft are enough to create ripples in the water of their pool.
The FAA suggested that irked Islanders file complaints with the agency.
But William Mahoney said that complaining to the FAA is “futile” and that “absolutely nothing has changed” since the issue first surfaced here.
Mahoney described the problem as “a steady stream of helicopter onslaught.”
“Around and around we go just like the blades on a helicopter,” Mahoney told the Advance/SILIve.com. “Having helicopters flying within 600 feet of our homes jeopardizes our safety and degrades our quality of life. And to think the tourism businesses make a profit off of this.”
The Advance/SILive.com reached out to more than one person at HeliNY about the new round of complaints, asking what the company had done or could do about the situation.
HeliNY has not responded to the outreach.
The FAA has said 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.
HeliNY in 2024 told the Advance that their helicopters had previously been transitioning, or traveling through airspace, from Linden to the city over Staten Island because they were directed to do so by the air traffic control tower at Newark Liberty International Airport, which controls the airspace in question.
HeliNY at the time said they were in talks to look at alternate transitions between Linden Airport and New York City.