Long Island Residents Say Noise From JFK Overnight Arrivals Bordering On Unbearable
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Nassau County residents were to sound off about new flight patterns for John F. Kennedy International Airport at a meeting on Monday as anger grows over increased aircraft noise.
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The Port Authority said air traffic controllers used Runway 22Lfor 800 more overnight landings between September and December of last year than in the same period in 2010 -- a jump of nearly 32 percent.
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Residents took out their cameras and recorded some of what is keeping them up at all hours, complaining that arrival noise at JFK in the middle of the night is only getting worse, reports CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan.
"The airplanes are coming over constantly," one person said.
"There has to be some judgment so we spread out the pain," another said.
Despite promises from the Federal Aviation Administration to better monitor flights allowing homeowners a good night's sleep, there has been no improvement. And locals say they're miserable.
"It wakes you up at 3 o'clock in the morning," one person said.
"It's so noisy you're inclined to go deaf," another said.
Those living in the flight path in Floral Park, New Hyde Park and Elmont said there has been a discernible increase in noise.
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Angry people living in communities along the runway approach path are e-mailing and calling an FAA hotline demanding to know why.
"Why are they dumping on 22L -- the communities in the north end -- when they used to have an agreement not to come in between 11 at night and 7 in the morning?" wondered Laurence Quinn of The Town Village Aircraft Safety and Noise Abatement Committee.
The village of Floral Park is so bombarded with plane noise it got FAA approval to install a noise monitor inside the bird sanctuary and it confirmed exploding decibel levels.
"This goes on all night. It is the cargo planes and the cargo planes are even louder than the passenger planes," said the Aircraft Safety and Noise Abatement Committee's Linda Dersch.
The FAA responded by saying: "...runway selection is based on wind, weather, volume, safety, efficiency and noise."
Added the Port Authority: "...we will continue to work on noise abatement issues, such as soundproofing schools, and alternating runways..."
The air traffic controllers union at Kennedy Airport said deciding which runway to use is based on safety and a need to reduce delays.
Politicians and aviation officials were to meet with residents at 7:30 p.m. at the Garden City Library to address concerns.
The event was to be hosted by the Town Village Aircraft Safety and Noise Abatement Committee, a group that represents nearly 145,000 people in 13 communities in Hempstead and North Hempstead.
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