New York, NY – Amid complaints from local residents that noise from the whirlybirds is an ongoing nuisance, support is growing among City Council members to back an upcoming bill that would ban helicopter tourist flights out of lower Manhattan and throughout the five boroughs permanently.
NYDAILYNEWS.com reports in an EXCLUSIVE that Councilman Carlos Menchaca (D-Brooklyn) is busy drafting the ban bill which would bring down the curtain on the helicopter tours industry that employs about 200 people and adds about $33M annually to NYC’s economy.
According to residents in Lower Manhattan and along the Hudson and East rivers, noise from the tours has become too much to deal with, despite an agreement from industry heads to cease flying over land.
“It’s ruing the quality of life in this city,” said Battery Park resident Delia von Neuschatz.
Put in perspective, NYC’s 311 line logged 1,290 noise complaint calls about the tours in 2014 as opposed to 129,946 about loud parties.
Brian Tolbert, who manages the lower Manhattan heliport, said a survey conducted by his group Helicopter Matters showed that only 4% of New Yorkers found noise from the tours a problem.
As reported by Vos Iz Neias