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Council Member Gale A. Brewer

and the Economic

Development

CorDoration Helicopter

Roundtable

Update (These are notes fromthe January

22 meeting.

Follow up is taking

place, with supporl

of Congressmember

Nadler, the FAA, andEDC.

Also, we will schedule

a larger working group meeting in the near

future. If you have

questions,

contact Jesse Bodine, OfficeofCouncil 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,

ChiefOperating

Officerof the Economic Development

Corporation

(EDC), convened

a Helicopter

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

themeeting

were Patricia Omst, Director of Aviation, NYCEDC;

Leo Prusak,

DistrictManager,

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

fromthe 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. TheNoiseHelicopter noise is inherently more complex to mitigate thanjet aircraft noise due

to the multipie sources and designof 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. Theseare known in the industry as blade flapping and blade slapping. Blade flapping is defined as "the upward or downward movement of the rotor bladesduring 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 reduceboth 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 designofhelicopters in regular use over the city's neighborhoods.. 

### History Priorto this roundtable,

helicopter

noise and safety have been long standing issues. Manhattan

Borough Presidents

RuthMessinger

and Virginia Fields

both maintained a Helicopter

Task Force whichmet 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

andEast 34 Street Heliports within the New York Metroarea. Thehours

of operation

differ at each

heliporl. The Downtown

Manhattan

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

on Saturday

from 9:00

a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and on Sunday

from 9:00a'm.

to 5:00 p.m., except hatsightseeing

flightsarelimited

to 9:00a.m.

to 7:00p.m. on weekdays and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday

andSunday

(except for emergency

landings andtakeoffs). This Heliporlaverages

60,000 flightsper

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 limitedfrom 8:00

a.m. to 8:00 p.m' The number

of operations

is limitedto 28,800

annual flights, and averages 22,000 flightsper year.The Hudson River Trust Park oversees the West 30 Street Helipotl. The helipott has 25,000 landings and take-offs peryear, which will be capped

at 12,500 asof June1,2009 due to a settlement

agreement. Noise complaints

about helicopter

noise can be made to the EDC at (212) 619' 5000, Monday thruFriday,

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,

andEufocoptef

brands rather than the Sikorsky,

which is the largest

and heaviest of the models.

Mr. Shobowale

and Ms. Omstexpressed

that they are pleased to work with Council Member Brewer on these issues, and arelooking

forward to future meetings.
FAA Mr. Prusak

reported that the FAA is responsible

for developing

and enforcing

arr traff,rc regulations,

assigning theuse ofairspace,

and managing

air traffic. Whilethere

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 Metroarea.

In addition,

the FAA has

a number of recommended

policies for nonemergency

helicopters

to follow when

hovering. The FAA cannot

ake enforcement

action on regulations

thatdo 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 helicopter

oute changes overLong Island's

North Shore

and overStaten

Island.
Mr. Prusak

stated that any change regarding

flight routes or altitude

would require amendments

o the Federal

AviationRegulations

(FAR) at the federal

evel.
As stated in the Federal Aviation Regulation

(FAR) $ 91.119 Minimum

safe altitudes: General. Exceptwhen 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 areaof 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 thosecases,

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 lessthan the minimums prescribed in paragraph (b) or (c) ofthis sectionif the operation is conducted without hazard

to persons

or properfy on the surface. In addition, eachperson operating

a helicoptershall comply with any routesor altitudes specifically prescribed for helicopters

by the Administrator.
Hudson River Park

Trust Ms. Silberfeld,

General Counsel for the HRPT,

reviewed the outcome

of the2007, 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 flightsentirely

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 theWest

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. Theirad 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 anAir Tour committee

whichadvocates 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 Street o West 86 Street reported helicopters

constantly

flying over

theirbuildings,

hovering and making sharp turns. One resident reported seeing 20 helicopters

pass overhis 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 sothey were unable to give sufficient

information

to either the EDC (via 3 11) 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 thatCouncil

Member Brewer, theoffice of Congressmember Jerrold Nadler, the EDC, FAA, andERHC will work on thefollowing 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 overNew York City.
2. CreaIe newand 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

ofeachhelicopter

ather then just thetail. 3. Research

newtechnologies

i.e. quieter

helicopters
4. Engage

the Electronic

NewsGathering

Industry to address

the increased

resident complaints involving

hovering helicopters

over NYC. FOLLOW UP: Congressmember Nadler, Council Member Brewer and representatives

of other 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 overManhattan.

At the same

time Congressmember

Nadler is researching

the possibility of legislation

that would change

the helicopter

outes and address the problem.