The Hoboken City Council approved a non-binding resolution calling on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ban helicopters flying over residential areas in the Mile Square City and Jersey City following last week’s tragedy at last night’s meeting.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
“Yesterday we had 333 flights, 71 one was from Kearny. Today, they shut down the tourist traffic. Obviously, the FAA is looking into the safety aspects of this. And the tours are not operating as they were,” Corey Davis said during public comment.
He continued that all of their flights travel over Hoboken.
“This is their 2nd strike in 6 years, where we’ve seen helicopters based out of the Kearny airport crashing into the river,” he noted.
Davis supported the resolution and urged them to advocate to U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ), U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8), and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for changes.
“Highlight this problem. The helicopter traffic has gotten out of control. It’s unsafe and we got to get these helicopters off our roofs,” he declared.
5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen noted that he co-sponsored the measure with 1st Ward Councilman Paul Presinzano.
He called for a moment of silence for six crash victims from last Thursday’s fatal incident, which included a family of five from Spain and the pilot.
“This is not a new issue. This is something that I’ve brought before the council. This council has unanimously asked for the FAA to act on this. Mayor Bhalla and I have written the FAA and got no response when they talked about changing light paths near the Statue of Liberty,” Cohen, an advocate of the Stop the Chop movement, explained.
He said the FAA proposed changing routes to have flights over Hoboken so as not to disturb Statue of Liberty tourists at the expense of those in Hudson County.
“That was galling. Got no response from the FAA on that,” the councilman recalled, noting that both Menendez and his predecessor, U.S. Rep. Albio Sires, had introduced legislation of this nature.
Cohen added that members of Congress from New York have also sought to address this.
“The flight that crashed tragically, they still don’t why. They’re investigating the causes of it. One of the theories is that it might have hit a drone or something …,” he noted.
“ … These are low-flying vehicles. They belch diesel. They make windows vibrate in people’s homes. They are an absolute menace.”
Cohen said it is precedented for the FAA to shut down helicopter traffic after a tragedy, pointing out that New York Helicopter Tours has already ceased operations.
“… When they don’t want to sit in traffic like everybody else, taking these commuter flights are a menace to our community,” he added.
“The economic impact of these flights is de minimis, and millions of people’s lives are being affected.”
2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher asked what the obstacle is, asking if perhaps lobbyists were holding up the legislation.
“It’s lobbyists: The most connected, the most powerful lobbyists,” Cohen replied, recalling that they got a congressional hearing on the topic cancelled in recent memory.
“The day before the hearing, it was cancelled. The answer was clear lobbyists had shut down the vote. I don’t know if it’s the tourist operators or the captains of industry who don’t want to you know, lose their commuting helicopters.”
“I bet you it’s that, I can only imagine the calls they made,” Fisher answered.
Cohen noted that helicopter noise ruins the ambiance of the waterfront parks, noting their 9/11 ceremony has been interrupted before, as well as that the helicopter that crashed in the Hudson River last week went over Hoboken earlier in the day.
The Hoboken council ultimately passed the resolution unanimously (8-0).
Wow! Great job guys! Now pass a non-binding measure proclaiming water is wet and urging the federal government to give us eleventy billion dollars!