New Yorkers are getting some relief from the ever-present noise of tourist helicopters.
The City Council on Thursday approved a bill that, as of December 2029, will ban sightseeing and commuter helicopter flights that do not comply with the federal government’s strictest noise standards from departing the two city-owned heliports in Manhattan. The bill is a roundabout way to reduce flights following the crash of a sightseeing helicopter into the Hudson River earlier this month, killing six people.
“We are looking at what we can control, and we are doing it well with this bill,” said Bronx Councilwoman Amanda Farías, the bill’s lead sponsor, at a news conference just before the council vote. “The city of New York has a noise code, and we have the jurisdiction to regulate it.”
The measure is designed to limit non-essential flights without stepping on the toes of federal regulators. It would halt flights from departing the Downtown Skyport and the 34th Street Heliport along the East River, if they exceed the up to 109 decibels (roughly equivalent to a chainsaw) allowed under the Federal Aviation Administration’s strictest noise regulations for helicopters.
But there are exceptions. Aircraft used by medical personnel, law enforcement, the military, news agencies and film crews will not be required to comply with the new restrictions, according to the bill’s text. The legislation effectively targets the city’s helicopter sightseeing tours and luxury commuter industry, often used by the city’s C-suite class. Once the bill takes effect, in Fiscal Year 2030, the City Council estimates that New York will likely miss out on $210,000 in annual permitting fees as a result of some tenants departing the city’s heliports to less regulated sites.
It’s unclear if Mayor Eric Adams will sign or veto the bill. Earlier this month the mayor said he doesn’t support a ban on nonessential helicopter flights in the city. City Hall referred Crain’s to the Economic Development Corp. for comment. EDC runs the city’s heliports and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said at the news conference that she “would hope” the mayor would agree with the spirit of the bill. “This is good legislation,” she added.
The legislation does not apply to a third Manhattan heliport, the West 30th Street Heliport off the Hudson, because it is owned by the Hudson River Park Trust, a city-state partnership.
Older helicopters taking off from city-owned heliports are currently allowed to operate slightly louder than the between 104 and 109 decibels permitted under the FAA’s strictest noise standards for helicopters. In 2014, the FAA implemented that noise standard for helicopters. The rule, however, only applied to new helicopter models.
A coalition of aviation trade groups argue that the city is overstepping.
“This legislation is preempted by federal law and exceeds the powers of the city,” wrote Jeff Smith, president of the Eastern Region Helicopter Council, Ed Bolen, president and CEO of the National Business Aviation Association and four other aviation executives in a Monday letter penned to the City Council. They argue that the bill would have “significant negative impacts upon [the city’s] heliports and the many organizations, businesses, and industries that they support.”
It is unclear how many older, louder choppers are flying in the city’s airspace. But the City Council will soon get a better sense of that figure when the EDC submits a report next spring detailing the amount of flights carried out by such models, the bill stipulates. The legislation also required that EDC track how many non-essential flights occur each year.
