Cohen spars with helicopter council about non-commercial flights over Hoboken

Hoboken 5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen sparred with the Eastern Region Helicopter Council about non-commercial flights over Hoboken persisting after last month’s fatal Hudson River crash.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

“As of April 15, Newark Airport has begun a 60-day, 24-hour full-time closure of Runway 22R/4L for scheduled maintenance, which is expected to continue through June 15. During this time, Runway 29 has become the primary runway for arriving aircraft, weather permitting,” Eastern Region Helicopter Council Chair Jeffrey Smith wrote on April 29th.

“This operational shift has resulted in an adjustment to the arrival flight paths, which now extend further east and closer to the Hudson River. Consequently, this has placed increased demand on airspace that is commonly shared with helicopter routes, particularly those servicing the region’s heliports and providing essential services such as law enforcement, medical transport, news coverage, and tourism.”

While he assured that “strict safety and coordination protocols” are in place, that didn’t sit well with Cohen, he has sponsored local legislation and supported local groups such as Stop the Chop to halt or limit non-commercial flights.

More recently, the city council unanimously approved a measure (8-0) last month calling on the FAA to halt helicopter travel in residential areas, as HCV first reported.

“Your April 29 and May 1 communications describe an ‘operational shift’ in flight traffic operating out of the Kearny HHI heliport because of Newark Airport’s ’60-day, 24-hour full-time closure of Runway 22R/4L’ states that this ‘operational shift’ has already been in place for weeks, as you write ‘As of April 15,” Cohen wrote on May 1st.

“Your correspondence is long overdue and reflects a maddening lack of engagement with the governing body of the City of Hoboken. For more than 2 weeks the helicopter industry has been operating in a manner that is even more disruptive to the residents of the City of Hoboken than usual, and you chose not to proactively, timely advise us of this anticipated route change.”

He also pointed out that Smith sent two letters, one on April 29th and one on May 1st, with the difference being that the first one was addressed to “Elected Official Town Address” before correcting the error by addressing it to the Hoboken City Council.

On May 1st, Smith responded one more time via email, noting that he wanted to give the ERHC’s perspective without responding to each point one by one.

“We understand that helicopter noise is a genuine concern for some residents, and we do not take that lightly. In fact, after safety, noise mitigation has become a leading focus of our work. Our voluntary efforts over the years to improve flight paths, limit flight hours, and respond to community input have earned us recognition from both regulators and advocacy groups,” he wrote.

“That said, we know there is more to do, and we remain committed to continued improvement. Regarding the recent tragedy, our hearts go out to the family affected and to the pilot who was lost—one of our own. This loss is deeply felt across our entire community. We ask that such a tragedy not be used to conflate two separate issues—noise and safety—both of which we take seriously, but which require different solutions.”