Lawmakers Want Something Done On Airplane Noise

Written by Nathan Duke

Elected officials representing New York and Long Island at the federal level are calling on the Port Authority to set up an advisory committee to address airplane noise concerns.

Bayside and Douglaston residents have been complaining for more than a year about constant airplane noise over their communities after LaGuardia Airport initiated a new flight pattern. Recently Long Island representatives in the NY State Legislature also held a press conference in New Hyde Park to address mitigation efforts aimed at noise relief.

U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer, D-NY, and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, as well as U.S. Reps. Grace Meng, D-Flushing, and Steve Israel, D-Huntington, have sent a joint letter to Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye, asking for the agency to set up a committee that would handle ongoing and future concerns about airplane noise for city residents.

Currently, there is no forum through which residents can complain about flight patterns, construction, frequency of arrivals and departures and new runway configurations.

“It is simple common sense to say that the largest metropolitan area in the country should have an airport advisory committee like the one we are proposing, a body that would help increase the quality of life for locals,” Schumer said. “With the creation of this committee, those affected by airplane noise can provide a more united front to their elected officials, the aviation community and the Federal Aviation Administration.”

Airport advisory committees currently exist in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville.