Staten Island residents are renewing their call for relief from persistent helicopter noise that they say is destroying their quality of life. <\/p>\n
A number of borough residents have contacted the Advance\/SILive.com recently to complain anew about what has become a long-term problem. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are experiencing an assault on our quality of life,\u201d said Carol Donovan, president of the Richmondtown & Clarke Avenue Civic Association. \u201cThe helicopter traffic is incessant. Flights are very noisy, and typically are 10-15 minutes apart, disturbing our meals, conversations and peace and quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Houses shake, windows rattle<\/p>\n
According to flight-tracking websites, many of the chopper flights originate from Linden Airport in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
The flights and their attendant noise are most prevalent in the evening hours, residents say, often making a racket until 10 p.m. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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 \u201cis so frightening.\u201d<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Conlon said that on this past Christmas Eve, \u201cthe flight frequency was about every seven to eight minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe flights fly across residential communities here, some as low as four hundred feet,\u201d she said. \u201cThey rattle windows and disturb residents with noise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Flying neighborly\u2019<\/p>\n
The Advance\/SILive.com began reporting on the helicopter noise issue in 2024. <\/a><\/p>\n