NY Legislators Push to Close West 30th Street Heliport
NY – New York state and city legislators said Friday that they plan to introduce legislation to permanently close New York City’s West 30th Street heliport (KJRA) in response to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s veto of the “Stop the Chop” act. In her veto message, Hochul explained, “regulation of aircraft and airspace is primarily a federal responsibility, and federal law significantly constrains the state’s ability to legislate in this area. Certain elements of this legislation run counter to the Federal scheme regulating New York’s airports and airspace.”
The “Stop the Chop Act” is the first major legislative effort at the state level to restrict non-essential helicopter flights flying over Manhattan by creating a novel nuisance cause of action for the Attorney General and aggrieved residents against noisy tourist helicopters. Supporters of the bill hoped that the threat of lawsuits would reduce the number of revenue-generating sightseeing flights and thus squelch the rising number of noise complaints from local residents.
In a written statement, State Sen. Brad Hoylman State Sen. Brad Hoylman said in a written statement, “I plan to redouble my efforts to limit chopper flights over our communities. I will be introducing legislation to amend the Hudson River Park Act to close the West 30th Street heliport in the Hudson River Park, “I’m extremely disappointed by the governor’s veto of our Stop the Chop Act, the first major state legislative effort to address the ill-effects of helicopters,” he added. On Thursday, Hoylman released a study that claims an average of 165 helicopters fly over Manhattan each weekend, with half of those flights originating in New Jersey.
Separately, New York City council members have already introduced municipal legislation to limit helicopter flights over the city. Council member Gale Brewer’s bill would “prohibit sightseeing helicopters from taking off and landing at heliports owned by the city if those helicopters do not meet the Stage 1, 2, or 3 noise levels for helicopters as determined by the Federal Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990.”
AOPA and the New York Aviation Management Association shared their concerns in a joint letter to Hochul. Although many of their members contacted the Governor’s office personally to express opposition to this bill, “on behalf of our nearly 10,000 New York members, AOPA thanks Governor or Hochul for her leadership vetoing the ‘Stop the Chop’ legislation… and for her recognition of the state’s limitation on enacting local restrictions on flight activity.”, said Sean Collins, AOPA’S Eastern Regional Manager. “The Governor’s action to stop this bill will help to preserve the vitality of New York’s general aviation industry, which supports $79.9 billion in annual economic impact.”