Anonymous wrote:

I just found your web site while searching for links to heliport information. As a member of the "enemy camp" I find this site a bit distressing. Certainly my experiences in NYC are that it, like Chicago where I reside, is a noisy place. With the sounds of cars honking, buses, trucks, sirens, etc. how can you possibly hear the helicopters?That being said, I have to think back to New Orleans after Katrina when the citizens were happy to see helicopters hovering over their homes to rescue them. If you chase them all away, who will be there to save you when things go terribly wrong?

Anonymous, thanks for taking the time to share your sentiments with us. We agree, that like Chicago, NYC is generally loud. You will not find, however, pervasive sirens and horns before dawn on a consistent basis. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for helicopter noise. If this were to become the case however, there are "quality of life" statutes currently in force, in NYC to deal with most types of pervasive noise pollution, especially during the hours when most people are at home and trying to sleep. Once again, not the case when it comes to helicopter generated noise pollution. Helicopter noise is immune to these statutes because the FAA preempts anything that the City could legislate to address helicopter noise.

With respect to your comments re: New Orleans and Katrina, apparently you did not spend much time reading what we are attempting to accomplish with this site. Military, police, emergency and even private corporate helicopter traffic is not what we are intending to curtail. Indeed if the helicopter traffic over Manhattan were limited to the above reference categories, there would most likely be no issue at all. The real offenders are the tourist helicopters and the news media helicopters. Those, my dear Anonymous, are the ones that we say, must go.

Labels: citizen, comment, feedback, Noise Pollution, response