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Council Member Gale A. Brewer and the Economic Development CorDoration

Helicopter Roundtable Update

(These are notes from the January 22 meeting. Follow up is taking place, with supporl of

Congressmember Nadler, the FAA, and EDC. Also, we will schedule a larger working group

meeting in the near future. If you have questions, contact Jesse Bodine, Office ofCouncil

Member Gale A. Brewer at ibodine(Ecouncil.nvc.gov or 212-873-0282. GAB 5/1/2009).

On January 22,2009 Council Member Gale A. Brewer, along with Tokumbo.

Shobowale, Chief Operating Officer of the Economic Development Corporation (EDC),

convened aHelicopter Roundtable meeting at the EDC's offices, located at 110 William Street.

The Roundtable was organized to address the increasing problem ofhelicopter traffic and notse

in the New York City area. Attending the meeting were Patricia Omst, Director of Aviation,

NYCEDC; Leo Prusak, District Manager, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); Laurie

Silberfeld, General Council, Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT); Patricia Wagner, General

Manager, East 34 Sneet Heliport; Robert Grotell, Interim General Manager, Downtown

Manhattan Heliporl; and Jeff Smith, Chairman, Eastem Region Helicopter Council.

Representatives from the following offices also attended: reps of Congressmember

Jenold Nadler, State Senator Tom Duane, Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, Assembly

Member Linda Rosenthal, Speaker Christine Quinn, Council Member Dan Garodnick, Council

Member Alan Gerson, Council Member David Yassky, and Manhattan Borough President Scott

Stringer.

In addition, representatives from Community Boards 1,2,4,5,6, and 7 attended

along with representatives from the Helicopter Noise Coalition of New York City and residents

of the Upper West Side community. An attendance list is attached.

The Noise
Helicopter noise is inherently more complex to mitigate than jet aircraft noise due

to the multipie sources and design of the aircraft. Helicopter noise tends to have a pulsating

quality caused by the blade passing frequencies ofthe rotors. The propeller noise is usually

the significant component and is essentially a function of the blade tip speed.

Variations in blade speed produce complex and distinct noises. These are known

in the industry as blade flapping and blade slapping. Blade flapping is defined as "the upward

or downward movement of the rotor blades during rotation," while different variations of

blade slapping are caused by the angle and speed ofa helicopter's forward motion and angle

of turn.

There are new technologies and methods that reportedly reduce both blade

slapping and blade flapping that Council Member Brewer's office will investigate and share

in hopes of promoting quieter helicopters through legislation requiring modifications in the

blade design ofhelicopters in regular use over the city's neighborhoods..

History

Prior to this roundtable, helicopter noise and safety have been long standing

issues. Manhattan Borough Presidents Ruth Messinger and Virginia Fields both maintained

a Helicopter Task Force which met regularly. In addition, community coalitions such as

Helicopter Noise Coalition of New York City, and HeliFree New York, have advocated

tirelessly for legislation regulating helicoptel routes, noise pollution, and increased security.

Representatives of both the Helicopter Task Force and Helicopter Noise Coalition of New

York City attended the meetings.

Aeencv and Organization ReDorts

EDC

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is the city

agency designated to oversee both the Downtown Manhattan and East 34 Street Heliports

within the New York Metro area. The hours of operation differ at each heliporl. The

Downtown Manhattan Heliport operates 7days a week, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on

weekdays, on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and on Sunday from 9:00 a'm. to 5:00

p.m., excepthat sightseeing flights are limited to 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on weekdays and

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday (except for emergency landings and takeoffs). This Heliporl averages 60,000 flights per year

The East 34 Sffeet Heliport is open for corporate use per Special Permit: no

sightseeing is permitted. This heliport operates Monday through Friday only (no weekend

operations); hours of operations are limited from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m' The number of

operations is limited to 28,800 annual flights, and averages 22,000 flights per year.
The Hudson River Trust Park oversees the West 30 Street Helipotl. The helipott

has 25,000 landings and take-offs per year, which will be capped at 12,500 as of June 1, 2009

due to a settlement agreement.

Noise complaints about helicopter noise can be made to the EDC at (212) 619'

5000, Monday thru Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

The EDC reported that there is a range ofhelicopter modeis currently in use in the

New York Metro area, including but not limited to: Sikorsky 76, Augusta, Eurocopter 130, 355

Twin Star. 350 A Star, and Bell 206 and 407. The sightseeing companies predominantly use the

Bell, Augusta, and Eufocoptef brands rather than the Sikorsky, which is the largest and heaviest

of the models.

Mr. Shobowale and Ms. Omst expressed that they are pleased to work with Council

Member Brewer on these issues, and are looking forward to future meetings.

FAA

Mr. Prusak reported that the FAA is responsible for developing and enforcing arr

traff,rc regulations, assigning the use ofairspace, and managing air traffic. While there are no

specific enforceable regulations regarding helicopter itineraries, overflying, and hovering,

there are routes that the FAA recommends to heiicopter pilots who choose to fly within the

New York Metro area. In addition, the FAA has a number of recommended policies for nonemergency helicopters to follow when hovering. The FAA cannotake enforcement action on

regulations that do not exist but is making an effort to work with helicopter industry

representatives to convince the sightseeing helicopter companies to adhere to the

recommended policies. Mr. Prusak reported that the FAA was able to broker helicopteroute

changes over Long Island's North Shore and over Staten Island.

Mr. Prusak stated that any change regarding flight routes or altitude would require

amendmentso the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) at the federalevel.

As stated in the Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR)

$ 91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.

Except when necessary for takeoffor landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the

following altitudes:

(a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, ifa power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue

hazard to persons or propedy on the surface.

(b) Over congested areas. Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any

open air assembly ofpersons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a

horizontal radius of2,000 feet ofthe aircraft.

(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open

water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500

f€et to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.
(d) Helicopters. Helicopters may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed in paragraph

(b) or (c) ofthis section if the operation is conducted without hazard to persons or properfy on the

surface. In addition, each person operating a helicopter shall comply with any routes or altitudes

specifically prescribed for helicopters by the Administrator.

Hudson River Park Trust

Ms. Silberfeld, General Counsel for the HRPT, reviewed the outcome of the 2007,

West 30 Street Heliport settlement between Friends of the Hudson River Park and the HRPT.

The lawsuit was brought on the grounds that the Hudson River Park Act of 1998 prohibits

tourist flights entirely and permits a heliport only west of the Hudson River bulkhead line,

and only for commercial and emergency flights. The settlement resulted in an agreement that

as ofJune 1, 2009 sightseeing operations at the West 30 Street Heliporl will be capped at

12,500 and all sightseeing operations will cease by April 1, 2010.

Eastem Region Helicopter Council

Eastem Region Helicopter Council (ERHC) was started in 1977 by local helicopter

pilots. Their ad hoc meetings in New York City, using the initial name of Northeast Helicopter

Operator Council (NEHOC), were the initial step in forming the eastera seaboard's first, locallyorganized aviation group to represent helicopters. They incorporated their organization in 1979,

renaming it the Eastem Region Helicopter Council, Inc., a non-profit organizalion, to represent

their interests in aviation. As reported by Mr. Smith, there are currently 17 companies that

advertise air tours of Manhattan. The ERHC also has an Air Tour committee which advocates

water routes for air tours. The ERHC has a voluntary agreement between longstanding air tour

operators and the FAA to restrict flights to water routes only.

Communiw Comments

Community residents from the Upper West Side ranging from West 79 Streeto West

86 Street reported helicopters constantly flying over their buildings, hovering and making

sharp turns. One resident reported seeing 20 helicopters pass over his building within less

than 22 minutes. In addition, residents reporled that the markings on the helicopter were too

small to read from the ground and so they were unable to give sufficient information to either

the EDC (via 3 1 1) or FAA when reporting the helicopters. Residents also advocated for a

better understanding ofthe FAA responsibility and the Federal Air Regulations regarding

New York City.

Next Steps

It was agreed that Council Member Brewer, the office of Congressmember Jerrold

Nadler, the EDC, FAA, and ERHC will work on the following issues intemally and report back

in the upcoming months in order to find solutions and possibly create a new memorandum of

understandins.
1. Explore options to strengthen the FAA recommended policies and/or change FAR regulahons

pertaining to routes, altitude, overflying, and hovering over New York City.

2. CreaIe new and better ways for the public to identiff helicopters, i.e. increasing the size of the

identification numbers and placing the ID numbers on the bottom ofeach helicopterather then

just the tail.

3. Research new technologies i.e. quieter helicopters

4. Engage the Electronic News Gathering Industry to address the increased resident complaints

involving hovering helicopters over NYC.

FOLLOW UP: Congressmember Nadler, Council Member Brewer and representatives ofother

elected officials met with the Regional Director ofthe FAA and they are pressuring the FAA to

meet with the Helicopter industry and to find a solution to the problem of tourism helicopters

flying over Manhattan. At the same time Congressmember Nadler is researching the possibility

of legislation that would change the helicopteroutes and address the problem.