New York City lawmakers are seeking to ban “non-essential” helicopter flights from city-owned heliports, in a bid to curb excessive noise and pollution they argue is generated simply for unnecessary flights by tourists and wealthy commuters.
The city sees thousands of helicopter trips originate from its two city-owned heliports, but those trips are significantly outpaced by the growing number of complaints to 311 about them. More than 59,000 complaints were made to 311 about helicopter noise in 2023, more than double the 26,000 recorded in 2022.
