They’re mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore.
Over 100 incensed Southold Town residents showed up at a helicopter forum held at the recreation center on Peconic Lane Monday night, armed with questions and ready to fight to preserve their quality of life on the North Fork, which they said has been shattered by the steadily escalating procession of helicopters and sea planes that fly overhead at all hours.
One by one, residents spoke passionately at the two podiums, describing years of failed attempts to be heard on the federal level and imploring elected officials for help. Solutions brought to the table included controlling the number of flights and altitude and even banning flights to the area and shutting down the East Hampton airport permanently.
After the recent public outcry over helicopter noise on the North Fork, Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell and the town board decided to host the public meeting, along with Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski, to discuss the development of solutions to address noise abatement and the reduction of helicopter traffic.
Speakers included New York State Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo, Adam Santiago, district director for Congressman Tim Bishop’s office, Kyle Strober, director of the Long Island district office for Senator Charles Schumer and Debbie Tinnirello, Long Island regional director for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. In addition, several citizen advisory council members from communities of the South Fork provided their perspective, along with airplane pilot Joseph Fishetti.
The supervisor would also like to organize a community-based action group in town.
Russell said although the federal rule requiring Hamptons-bound helicopters to fly over the L.I. Sound along the north shore was extended for two years in a decision in June, a key component that would have required helicopters to say off-shore and fly around Orient Point and Shelter Island to the South Fork, as requested by New York State Senator Chuck Schumer and Congressman Tim Bishop, did not fly.
As a result, Russell said the noise has just “gotten out of hand. It’s gotten worse.”
Russell said the problem has only recently emerged in town had “it’s gotten way too out of hand.”
All town issues, he said, must undergo a cost benefit analysis. But, while traffic and congestion on county roads bring a boost to the economy, “There is no such benefit to air traffic invading our open spaces. It’s just cost, to our peace and quiet and to our way of life. It’s a problem created by others for the benefit of others. Southold has become a doormat to East Hampton. The problem with doormats is they are meant to be walked on — and it needs to stop.”
Southold Town board members Jim Dinizio, Bill Ruland and Jill Doherty were also in attendance, as was Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter.
Krupski said, out on his farm early Monday morning, he has heard a “lot of traffic overhead, “appropriate for the day of the meeting. It’s like they really wanted to emphasize what they can do to us.”
The legislator added that all involved need to work together to address the problem.
Strober, representing Schumer, said the senator is “absolutely furious that people’s quality of life is being ruined by helicopter noise over Long Island. Everyone that owns a piece of land, it’s your piece of the rock. And if you can’t go outside and have a barbecue in the summer in peace, that’s a shame.”
Strober said Schumer, Gillibrand and Bishop continue to fight for the all water route, at a higher altitude, around Orient Point.
Santiago said Bishop wasn’t present because he had a prior commitment to the Sound Beach Civic Association, but said the congressman continues to urge the Federal Aviation Administration to expand on the all-water route so that helicopters fly around Orient. “We need the FAA to hear this — this is a real problem for the North Fork,” he said.
Palumbo, who lives in New Suffolk, said the helicopters had really been “pounding away” that morning at 7 a.m., and had woken his kids, ages 10 and 7.
An attorney, Palumbo suggested the way to control the issue was not legislative action, an “exhaustive process,” but controlling the number of flights and other measures.
Fischetti, a Southold airline pilot and engineer, said he became involved in 2008 as chairman of the noise abatement committee at Gabreski, when the five East End towns first got together to try and find solutions.
There are three heliports in New York City, where 90 percent of the flights originate from; 10 percent come from Westchester and Morristown, Fischetti said. On the East End, those flights land at Gabreski, a Southampton heliport, and at the East Hampton airport, with 60 to 70 percent of the flights heading to East Hampton and approximately 7000 helicopter flights per year in total.
The problem did not exist prior to 2008, Fischetti said; before that time, helicopters flew across the center of Long Island, following the Long Island expressway route. Communities in Port Jefferson and Stony Brook complained and Schumer got involved, with the end result an agreement by the Eastern Region Helicopter Council to move all flights to the north shore.
Fischetti said he agreed with Palumbo that legislation was not the answer and suggested mitigating the issue by controlling the number of flights, with the South Shore route, across the Atlantic Ocean, being utilized, as well.
The suggestion was met with a loud chorus of boos and shouts from the audience.
“That’s not acceptable,” one woman called out.
The problem, Fischetti added, is that it’s been historically difficult to fly over John F. Kennedy International Airport.
“Too bad,” an audience member cried out.
Russell said one of the keys to mitigating the noise concerns is to demand the helicopters fly higher. Currently, he said, helicopters must fly at 2500 feet when in flight, but when on the transitional route, readying to land, pilots fly at their own judgment, with no regulation, based on what they determine is a safe altitude. “That’s a problem,” Russell said.
One man in the audience said since Bishop is the closest federal representative, at the next meeting, his opponent in the next election be invited to weigh in.
Peconic resident John Skabry has lived in his home for 44 years. “I can’t enjoy my backyard. We should be able to worship on Sunday in a quiet church.”
Representatives for Bishop, Schumer and Gillibrand do not live locally, he said. “It’s no surprise to me that the west end and East Hampton are taken care of. That’s where the money is. When I see helicopters flying over my house, I think of the senators and the congressman coming from the Hamptons with satchels full of money to fill their coffers and get re-elected.”
The FAA, Skabry said, is “terrible” on the issue of noise abatement. He suggested no further funding be given to the three airports until noise abatement is addressed. “Noise is pollution,” he said.
And, with the funding from the FAA for the East Hampton airport set to expire in December of this year, if no relief is realized, “We’ll shut that airport down if we have to.”
Skabry also suggested that an airport in Montauk be utilized, instead of the East Hampton facility.
He asked why the FAA had funded a control tower in East Hampton. An FAA rep present said the FAA did not fund that project.
Russell pointed out that the town has no legal right to regulate altitudes, with only the feds able to make that change. “We’ve been running up against a brick wall,” he said.
Peconic resident Paula Daniel said helicopters also posed a safety concern; according to research, she said they crash 35 percent more often than airplanes. “We’re endangering our lives at a greater rate than anywhere else on Long Island and I don’t think that’s fair for a federal safety agency to accept.”
Teresa McCaskie of Mattituck has been fighting for change for years, attending eastern region helicopter meetings and crying out against the noise.
She read a list of demands, including that all helicopters, private jets and sea planes should fly one mile out around Orient, following the coastline. Private jets should not use Mattituck as a turning point, and all should be required to have flotation devices onboard, she said. In addition, she said, helicopters should fly at a minimum of 3000 feet and decrease altitude as close as possible to the airport, not 13 miles away in Mattituck.
McCaskie also questioned if the registration numbers could be painted on the bottom of helicopters and sea planes in a bold font.
FAA aviation safety inspector Jim Ciccone responded that the registration numbers are mandated to be two inches wide by 12 inches high and placed on the sides of aircraft. They were once put on the bottom of aircraft but that hasn’t been done in years, he said. To alter that procedure, an amendment would be needed. He added that despite claims to the contrary, the numbers have no gotten smaller.
McCaskie said no aircraft should be allowed to fly over Mattituck High School. “As a parent I have every right to demand that my child’s safety is the top priority,” she said.
She also asked why helicopters are not mandated to fly over open space or water and are, instead, flying over populated residential communities.
McCaskie also said the East Hampton town board “cannot accept another penny from the FAA. The board needs to take control of the airport. I support the push to have the airport shut down completely, if they can’t comply.”
Russell asked FAA representatives directly why the all-water route adopted stops west of Mattituck; they responded that they hadn’t worked on the rule and could not answer.
The supervisor said he’s become “far more cynical” and noted the Eastern Region Helicopter Council represents pilots who have “an interest in making East Hampton happy because they need access to that airport.”
The southerly route is rarely used, with an eye toward least inconveniencing East Hampton residents and those on the golf course there. “It comes at our sacrifice because flights come in over Mattituck Inlet,” Russell said.
Krupski asked the FAA representatives what it would take, to get the all-water route extended around Orient Point.
“A miracle,” someone called out from the audience. “Someone dying,” another said.
Again, the FAA reps said they were not part of the rule-making process and could not comment.
“Then why are you here?” one audience member asked.
Krupski asked how to get in the same room with the FAA decision makers.
Ciccone said there is a process for rule making by petition and the FAA did not rule by committee; a proposal would be considered and put out for comment.
Bob Mallafonte, of the Sag Harbor civic association, has been working for years on the issue.
“We are being abused,” he said. “It has to stop. The only way is to ban them completely from this area.”
Mallafonte said residents needed to reach out to the new East Hampton town board. “We would like to see a complete ban of helicopters,” he said.
East Hampton Town is currently not able to regulate its rights as proprietor and impose limitations on the times helicopters can fly and the number of flights allowed, because the town accepted Federal Aviation grant funding years ago, with a 20-year window, Russell said at a town board meeting in 2013.
A noise abatement group sued the FAA nine years ago, based on the fact that the town improvements funded with the FAA funding was based on a master plan that had not yet been formally adopted. The group won, and the statute of limitations for the time when East Hampton has had to give up its rights of proprietorship is set to expire on December 31, 2014. After that time, the town board will be able to dictate helicopter flight times and other restrictions, speakers at that former town board meeting siad.
By taking the funding, Mallafonte said the East Hampton town board, in concert with the FAA, gave up its rights in exchange for “lots of money. It is not easy to stop children who are out of control. They need to be stopped.”
Kathy Cunningham, chair of the Quiet Skies Coalition in East Hampton, added when, 15 years ago, the East Hampton town board got the grant by “illegal means,” the grant assurances meant East Hamptons rights were abandoned; the town and FAA were found at fault.
Mallafonte said those in attendance should bombard the East Hampton town board, the FAA, and elected officials.
“They’re terrorizing us, our children, our wildlife,” he said. “Our goal is to have you unite with us on the South Fork and get after East Hampton and the FAA. They’re the ones that caused this and they will be the ones to fix this.”
One man in the audience asked why the FAA couldn’t take action “without being kicked in the butt first. You know there’s a problem but you can’t answer us. This is just lip service.”
Another resident asked those on the panel representing public officials if those elected officials accepted campaign donations from pilots associations; they did not respond.
Cunningham said she’s been fighting the battle for over 20 years. “I beg you, implore you to come to East Hampton Town Hall. If you were all there shaking your fingers, we’d bring this ball down the field. We need you there.”
She suggested Southold Town residents get a bus and attend the meetings.
Russell said when forming the town committee, “I don’t need five or seven of you. I need 500 or 700, telling East Hampton how they feel. East Hampton had no problem telling me how they felt about the deer cull. Let’s return the favor.”
One Orient resident asked that the flight path be pushed two miles out on the Sound, and the U-turn in Orient also pushed out farther.
Marie Domenici of Mattituck said environmental issues were critical. “If you are a person of means you can dump on the environment, your neighbors, and no one is going to hold a gun to your head because you have financial resources that most of us do not have.”
Suffolk County, she said, has failed an air quality test administered by the American Lung Association. “Give us our quality of life back. I don’t want any more CO2 on my tomato plants.”
Riverhead resident Janice Lorusso said her home near Iron Pier beach is right near the transition spot for helicopters. “They’re over my house before 6 a.m.,” she said.
Southold realtor Joe McCarthy said the issue concerned rights. “Our rights are being trampled on. When you buy a home, you get a bundle of rights, the right to quiet enjoyment.” Residents need to work together to find a solution, he said.
Showing photos of a helicopter over her backyard, Peconic resident Margaret Skabry added, “It’s indefensible. I am not trash, and I do not like being treated like trash by my elected officials and my government.”
South Jamesport resident Georgette Keller said her brother-in-law owns a home on Skunk Lane in Cutchogue and added, while things were better in Riverhead, “It’s shifted east. The shell game is happening now. You guys are under siege.”
Reading a letter from her brother, she suggested the southern, ocean-route be used, with a 5000-foot minimum flight requirement and no flights on Sundays. “And if they don’t have the apparatus, they shouldn’t be allowed to come to East Hampton.”
Some have recorded over 30 helicopter flights in one morning, Keller, the founder of the Save Main Road group in Riverhead, said, adding that the noise was destroying the area’s culture and tranquility.
“We are being exploited. They think they can walk all over us. We do have to go to those East Hampton town meetings,” she said.
A request for comment from East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell was not immediately returned.
“They haven’t heard the last of us. Let’s get the ball rolling,” Russell said.
