New York: Some Nassau County Residents Complain Skies Are Louder Than Ever

Leonard Schaier, Citizens for Quiet Skies over North Hempstead, with new FAA map 

(credit: Mona Rivera/1010 WINS)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Some residents along Nassau County’s North Shore said the Federal Aviation Administration’s new flight plans are making their lives miserable.

Community activist Leonard Schaier, of the group Citizens for Quiet Skies over North Hempstead, has been fielding complaints from his neighbors.

“They can’t go to sleep because of new landing patterns at LaGuardia, we have a group of people in the East Hills-Roslyn area who can’t get a full night’s sleep because they’re awake at 5 o’clock in the morning from airplanes landing at LaGuardia,” he said.

The FAA announced new flights plans for 200 planes a day last fall but insisted the aircraft would fly at 10,000 feet — too high to be heard.

“The problem is, is that when they made those changes it had a ripple effect and the ripple effect is what is driving, primarily, the landings down lower which is causing the problems,” Schaier said.

The FAA said the redesign would allow for more efficient use of airspace and cut flight delays plaguing New York airspace.

Meanwhile, new rules to cut helicopter noise on Long Island have stalled in Congress.

1010 WINS’ Mona Rivera reports
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