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Schumer Calls for Limits on Helicopters to Hamptonsby KEN BELSON and MARIA NEWMAN July 10, 2007 Just as the Hamptons' high season was getting under way, United States Senator Charles E. Schumer called yesterday for new limits on the growing number of helicopters ferrying privileged folks to the East End of Long Island, citing noise complaints and potential safety hazards. "The scourge of low-flying helicopters has risen on Long Island unabated for far too long," Mr. Schumer, a Democrat of New York, said in a statement before a news conference in Smithtown, in Suffolk County. "If we don't act now, the sky will be the only limit. These helicopters pose a serious danger to schools and communities all across Long Island, in addition to being a terrible annoyance for countless families." Rather than call for specific cutbacks, Mr. Schumer introduced legislation to require the Federal Aviation Administration to study helicopter traffic over Long Island, and report within 90 days on ways to reduce noise and divert the flight paths from homes. Helicopters are regulated far less than airplanes. For instance, they do not have altitude requirements and often fly a few hundred feet over homes. Many helicopters fly over the Long Island Rail Road tracks, but some often pass over residential areas. Traffic has been on the rise. East Hampton Airport, a main destination for flights from the city, handled 2,400 helicopter arrivals and departures in the first half of this year, 700 more than in the same period in 2006, according to James L. Brundige, the airport's manager, who said helicopter flights had doubled in the past decade. Tom Tweedy, a trustee in the village of Floral Park, which is on the border of Queens and Nassau County, said helicopters pass overhead every 10 minutes on Fridays and Sundays. "They vibrate the inside of your body," he said. "If you're outside, you suspend your conversation. "It's not, 'Not in my backyard,' but, 'Enough in my backyard,' " he added. Blue Star Jets, one of several companies that offer private jet and helicopter flights, has seen traffic rise 14 percent this year. The company runs several dozen flights between New York City and the Hamptons each weekend during the peak summer season. Another operator, U.S. Helicopter, introduced regularly scheduled flights last month to East Hampton from East 34th Street on Fridays at 2:30 p.m., returning from the Hamptons on Sundays at 7:30 p.m. One-way tickets cost $799 and flights take 35 minutes, compared with three hours by train and often longer by car. For those with the financial means, the helicopters are a godsend. To avoid traffic on the highways, Bobby Zarin, the owner of Zarin Fabrics and Home Furnishings in Manhattan, flies on Blue Star helicopters that drop him near his home in Southampton. "Unless you do a midnight run on the longest parking lot in the world, the Long Island Expressway, you're in trouble," said Mr. Zarin, who used to fly to the Hamptons by seaplane. "I can't see the helicopters bothering anyone because they try to stay over water or a highway." Mr. Schumer's news release said that helicopter noise and traffic are among the biggest complaints his office hears from Long Island residents, who are already grappling with noise from flights to La Guardia and Kennedy Airports. It noted that the rattling from the helicopter traffic sometimes sets off car alarms, and that a helicopter crashed last year in the playground of Kings Park High School. Mr. Schumer made a similar request of the F.A.A. two years ago, but he said in the statement, "The agency has refused to act." James Peters, an F.A.A. spokesman in New York, said the agency had responded to Mr. Schumer's requests in the past by speaking with industry officials about the impact of their flights on the communities they flew over. He declined to say whether it would conduct a study now. Todd Rome, president of Blue Star Jets, said there was no need for the federal government to step in, suggesting that companies follow his example by keeping helicopters above 2,000 feet and over major highways or the ocean. "It's not a complex problem," he said. Mr. Brundige, the manager of East Hampton Airport, said that he asks pilots to fly over water as long as possible to avoid bothering residents. But since the airport is landlocked, the helicopters inevitably pass over land, which has led to a flood of calls from angry homeowners. "Even though the operators are trying to be as cooperative as possible, we still get a lot of complaints," said Mr. Brundige.
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