Community Board 11 agrees to draft resolution backing limits on nonessential helicopter flights
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Summary
After a presentation from Stop the Chop, the joint health and transportation committees agreed to draft a resolution echoing Community Board 7’s call to limit nonessential helicopter flights and to obtain fuller legal and economic details before the full board votes.
Sandra Umbra, chair of the joint meeting of Community Board 11’s health and social services and transportation committees, moved that the committee draft a resolution endorsing Community Board 7’s measures to restrict nonessential helicopter flights in the New York metropolitan area.
Ken Coughlin, a member of Manhattan Community Board 7 and a representative of the Stop the Chop coalition, told the committee the group seeks to ban commuter, sightseeing and charter helicopters that it classifies as “nonessential.” Coughlin said nonessential helicopters "make our cities less safe," cited a recent fatal crash and said the group estimates roughly 80,000 nonessential flights over New York City each year. He also noted two city-run heliports and pending city, state and federal bills aimed at restricting flights.
Coughlin told the committee that a city council law sponsored by Council Member Amanda Farias would ban the loudest helicopters from the two city-run heliports beginning in 2029, and that the industry has filed litigation challenging city action. He said the city''s Economic Development Corporation estimates about $80 million in annual activity tied to the two city-run heliports, but that roughly $50 million of that figure is fuel purchases, leaving about $30 million of nonfuel economic activity.
Committee members pressed Coughlin on economic impacts and whether proposed actions would restrict movie production. Coughlin said some measures would not target news or emergency flights and that he would confirm whether specific bills would affect film shoots; he also said some state and federal proposals could have broader geographic reach (for example, a federal proposal cited that would restrict flights within a 20-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty).
After discussion, the committee moved to prepare a resolution mirroring CB7''s language and asked Coughlin to provide the full resolution text to staff. David Levitt seconded the motion. No roll-call vote or formal tally was recorded in the transcript; chairs confirmed a quorum and planned to present the drafted resolution to the full board for consideration.
The committees asked staff to collect additional details on legal exposure, the scope of pending state and federal bills and whether legislation would restrict short-duration film shoots. The item will return to the full board for a potential vote once the resolution text and supplemental information are available.
