Legislation Calls To End Helicopter Sightseeing Tours In New York Over Safety, Noise Concerns
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Certain helicopter rides above New York City could soon be a thing of the past as new legislation calls to end sightseeing tours due to safety and noise concerns.
"We actually celebrate rainy days so I can actually enjoy Central Park," Upper West Side resident Andrew Rosenthal told CBS2's Dave Carlin.
It is when the weather is nice that Rosenthal says he suffers most with what he calls an onslaught of city sightseeing tours by helicopter, buzzing his wrap-around top-floor terrace with Hudson River and Central Park views.
"I wake up to it in the morning, and I just feel my blood pressure just going up," Rosenthal said. "The apartment vibrates. The building vibrates."
Rosenthal says many times the flights that bother him in terms of noise originate in New Jersey.
"It's the move of the tourist business in part to New Jersey and flying over Central Park," he said.
He says it doesn't matter that New York City prohibits tours from taking off on Sundays because New Jersey-based tours now fill the void, like helicopters from Kearny, zipping back and forth to skirt Manhattan.
Rosenthal was at a news conference with politicians from both New York and New Jersey who back proposed legislation to end sightseeing tours and restrict elite VIP travel.
"It's not essential for a billionaire who's running late for a golf game in the Hamptons," New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman said.
"Shakespeare in the Park, zzzzz, I've heard them," Manhattan Borough President Gail Brewer said.
"Drastically reduce helicopter traffic, improve safety and cut down on noise pollution," Congressman Jerry Nadler said.
Nadler's bill would not count essential helicopter trips for police, medical reasons and news gathering.
CBS2 reached out by phone and email to several aviation companies, including New Jersey ones, along with the Eastern Region Helicopter Council and we did not hear back.
New York-based Blade Urban Air Mobility told us Blade does not arrange or sell helicopter tours and the company is transitioning to quiet, zero emission electric aircraft to reduce noise.