CityLab Daily: New Yorkers Are Fed Up With Helicopter Noise
Also today: Chicago taps the brakes on gentrification with a tax on teardowns, and winter viruses are overwhelming working parents.
A Bell 407 helicopter arrives at the Blade Lounge West landing area in New York City.
Photographer: Jeenah Moon/BloombergAs New Yorkers settled into work-from-home routines during the pandemic, many began noticing the relentless drone of helicopters from tourist charters and wealthy air commuters. They rattle apartments and disrupt Zoom calls, and New Yorkers are fed up. Thousands have complained to the city, with 311 calls about the noise skyrocketing from 3,332 in 2019 to nearly 26,000 last year. The number of complaints has even surpassed those about rats, a top-priority issue for Mayor Eric Adams.
Although grumbling about helicopter noise goes back decades, grievances reached a fever pitch as air taxis and tourist flights swelled in popularity during the pandemic. It’s prompted the city council to consider a bill banning nonessential traffic from city-owned heliports in Manhattan. But support for the legislation is mixed, and the bill has been stuck in committee since it was introduced in June, Bloomberg’s Gregory Korte reports. Today on CityLab: NYC Helicopters Are Back, Sending Noise Complaints Soaring 678%