By Juan Soto
The groups fighting against airplane noise in Queens have enlisted what they hope is a new and strong ally.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) hosted a meeting Oct. 10 at his Manhattan office with representatives from several organizations from Queens and Nassau to solve the airplane noise pollution problem in places like Bayside, Little Neck and Woodside to Nassau County.
The Queens residents are trying to curb the increasing number of airplanes flying over their neighborhoods since about 2 1/2 years ago, when the Senate passed the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization bill.
The legislation allowed the FAA to switch from a radar to a satellite-control traffic control system.
“It brought a whole new pattern into effect,” said a Bayside resident who did not want to be identified. The radar change based on GPS technology meant, he said, “more planes coming much lower than before, closer to our heads and with bigger fuselages.”
Janet McEneaney, president of Queens Quiet Skies, one of the organizations present at the meeting, said she was “optimistic” after discussing the noise problem with the senator and some of his top aides.
“He [Schumer] went right to the heart of the problem,” McEneaney said. “But he didn’t make any promises.”
Also present at the 30-minute meeting, among others, were representatives from the Eastern Queens Alliance, East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz and Floral Park Village Trustee Mary-Grace Tomecki.
“The senator knows there is a problem and the next step is trying to define it,” said a source who attended the meeting.
In the following weeks, the organizations have to fully describe the problem and how the jet noise and pollution has worsened from more than two years ago.
McEneaney said Queens Quiet Skies, founded in September 2012, will send letters to its members and to elected officials in the borough asking for their input about airplane noise issues and possible measures to solve them.
With documentation in hand, then Schumer “will meet with top people at the FAA,” McEneaney.
The groups hope Schumer’s involvement will persuade the FAA to reduce air traffic in the New York/New Jersey area, the country’s most congested region with about 4,000 jets flying daily in or out of John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport or Newark Airport.
It is expected the Democratic senator from New York will sit down with FAA Administrator Michael Huerta to lay out the problem.
Before the October meeting with Schumer, advocates from Queens and Long Island have written letters and sent petitions to the senator asking him to schedule a public meeting to discuss the jet noise increase.
Across the country, the FAA has organized roundtables to try to solve jet noise complaints. Some of these roundtables took place in, for example, Minneapolis.
“He was very surprised we didn’t have a functioning roundtable with the FAA,” said McEneaney.
This month, U.S. Reps. Grace Meng (D-Bayside), Steve Israel (D-Melville), Joe Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) and Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) established the Quiet Skies Caucus with other lawmakers affected by the loud jet noise. The new congressional caucus also includes representatives from California, Illinois, Florida, Massachusetts and Minnesota.
“Airports can never be perfect neighbors, but we can take steps to make them better neighbors,” Crowley said.
State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) was one of the first elected politicians to speak against the increasing airplane noise.
“Queens residents need real changes and that’s what we’ll be looking for,” said Avella.
Reach reporter Juan Soto by e-mail at jsoto@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
