Open Thread Wednesday

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  • Willow Street Watch

    Look at what has recently happened on the trains. They have reduced police presence/disability like 80% or more. The result: well take a look at what’s happening in Penn station or the 2&3 or the 4&5 trains going into Brooklyn; fights, robberies, harrasement of women and youth and tons of racially based incidents. Sure, the way the system is now carefully set up, almost nothing of what is now happening results in crime statistics, but anyone who rides the trains a lot for business or rides late nights and is not a text head knows what is now happening due to lack of police visibility.

  • Sen. Bob Forehead

    “teenagers” Ah Mmmkay…

  • Kenji Takabayashi

    Ahhhh a pleasant post.

  • StoptheChop

    They don’t even take care of more “innocuous” functions like handling all the double parking/illegal parking around Piers 5 and 6, or at the corner of Old Fulton and Furman.

  • Roberto Gautier

    I very much appreciate the report on Daffodil Hill. It is a mellowing picture that contrasts with the daily rumble of aircraft, particularly the sky-cramming flocks of helicopters with outmoded rotors. If the choppers were retrofitted with “stealth” blades, they could drastically mitigate their noise. The point about dangerously congested skies over NYC also raises the distinct possibility of accidents with downed aircraft crashing into a residential area. Our Mayor’s reluctance to act on this is of great concern. Beyond that, the FAA’s “we don’t care about them” attitude is the cause of lowered ceilings for flight paths. Our local politicians don’t have to bow and scrape before the feds in this jurisdictional barrier which gives the power of our lives to the federal government’s celestial rulemaker, the FAA. Today (4/16/15), the Mayor of Phoenix and members of the city council there threw down the gauntlet on the aircraft noise issue by raising the possibility of a lawsuit against the FAA to bring about relief.

  • StoptheChop

    20+ federal, state and local officials have requested a helitour ban from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport – including, at the federal level, trying to do something about the FAA. deBlasio could effect a DMH ban with the stroke of a pen, regardless of FAA jurisdiction of airspace– he’s not “reluctant”; he’s flat out refused to do anything, despite knowing about this problem since he was Public Advocate and pretending to sympathize with waterfront New Yorkers. And the EDC, which has operating jurisdiction over DMH, is happy to repeat every industry lie about how important this niche activity is to NYC, and that absolutely no one is complaining about it. Of course, tourists would never permit 300+ daily flights over their own homes, schools, parks and businesses…. And thanks for the info about Phoenix. This is a national issue (folks from LA to the Hamptons are fighting the noise/air pollution and the “we’re entitled to do whatever we want in our skies” crowd.) The FAA, by the way, is totally ignoring a DC Circuit case from a couple of years ago that requires it to consider noise complaints, not just the recorded decibel level, in assessing helicopter activity. stopthechopnynj.com

  • Allie

    I, too, was wondering about the four or five stationary helicopters hovering near Court and Montague in the late afternoon on Monday the 13th. What was happening that day?

  • Willow Street Watch

    But the bottom line is two realities:

    1) it the public endangerment of so much tonnage/amount of fuel which
    is now above our heads
    2) with all the resources of Heights organizations, with the BHA with
    their $400K the bank, why doesn’t anyone move to take some kind of
    Legal action like what happened at 34th st in Manhattan? Everyone
    forgot how write up a RJI? Really?

  • ShinyNewHandle

    Did drunk tourists just use a Middagh St. stairwell as a lavatory?

    Damn white people.

  • Teresa

    Totally random, but the birdsong at daybreak this week seems to have really kicked into high gear. Quite the chorus in the morning.

  • GHB

    I’m glad that someone actually spelled “horde” correctly!

  • ujh

    Don’t dismiss the gorgeous daffodils along the Cadman Plaza West exit ramp from the Brooklyn Bridge and they are closer than the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

  • StoptheChop

    What’s your legal theory? Giuliani was behind the closure of the East Side Heliport (the industry sued him to prevent it), and Hudson River Park kicked helitours out of the West Side Heliport because it’s within the park footprint and an unpermitted use. deBlasio is unmoved by the impact of nonstop noise/air pollution — or potential safety and security issues — on waterfront New Yorkers. So, we seem to be limited to public persuasion. If you have any thoughts about how to persuade him to do right by us, please contact stopthechopnynj.com!

  • Willow Street Watch

    I don’t know if a theory is possible without series of less than visable factors coming to light. To do this you need to force everal key facts and condition into the light. All we can have now are questions

    For example: Why has the FAA Why haven’t many, many elective officials, including those who influence funding of agencies not been willing or able to have some effect? Why have the many very well funded leading civic orgs or the several helicopter traffic ogs have refused to bring legal action in this matter. Several leading advocates in this matter I have spoken to, although they have absorbed considerable funds to fight this issue, can’t give a straight answer why there is never, ever any competant legal action to stop what is going on.

    There isn’t even anyone (duh) filing any kind of FOI requests with the FAA.

    Given the new carpet of stationary apparent observation stations which have now been put up why isn’t there a flurry of FOI’s to darling Homeland Security?

    Before any more complaining or theorizing, we need to force open some hard facts. Starting with why, off the top the feds, the state and city of New York and the Helicopter industry are being guaranteed that no serious legal action or even the most basic investigative efforts will ever be taken.

  • Willow Street Watch

    The best study of stimulus of bird sounds was done by a very great social scientist, Dr Robert Byrd who published his observations in 1958 under the name of bobby day, in recorded form, on the class “academic publishing” Co….(Hey, a little humor helps…)

  • Willow Street Watch

    Here’s some things which may be actually be effective in dealing with the helicopter/air traffic plague over the Heights:

    While a number of neighborhood associations and issue groups have remained coy on the subject of what residents can actually do in this matter there is some emerging avenues of action which we want to make available to average Heights residents:

    First of all if you have questions or comments on what’s (constantly) overhead one very obvious place to start is the Wall St Heliport. The Heliport is owned by the Economic Development Corp.(212) 248 7240
    You can call the heliport manager to comment on how happy MHz are about the amount of air traffic overhead (917 912 4217 or 212 248 7241)
    Ask for Brian Tolbert.

    NYC Government helicopter/fixed wing operations are run (as far as they will admit) out of Floyd Bennet if you’d like to make comment/or question why they have put up the amount of overflights..and stationary observation posts at like 1 to 3 AM, you can call them at 718 656 0956 ask for the air information officer or the press relations officer. Say you’re a citizen journalist and you want (demand) to know why they think its OK to put the amount of tonnage and amount of fuel over our heads nightly.

    By the way, for those with scanners NYC Air operations can be heard by scanning from 122.850 to 126.050 and listening to 164.3 and 381.800 MHz
    While a lot of air traffic is only hearable when aircraft are almost directly overhead, it can be a starting indicator of what’s up there and when

    The other Manhattan heliports are 34 St 212 425 1534 other contact numbers are 212 889 6350, 2551 & 9659 and the west 30th street “facility” which is run by the Hudson River Trust. You can call to register your level of appreciation to them at 212 627 2020 the manager is at 212 563 4442.

    While you’re reading this, you should be asking yourself why the above access information has carefully not been made available by any of the flocks of neighborhood associations, pols, area publications or organiza-tions all of which state they want to help with this problem….sure

  • Andrew Porter

    Brooklyn Daily Eagle article about the volunteers who work on the Promenade gardens:

    http://tinyurl.com/pjlkhnh

  • Andrew Porter

    I’ve always advocated for barrage balloons, like in the London Blitz, but for some reason no one takes me seriously on this topic…

  • Andrew Porter
  • Roberto Gautier

    This post provides excellent ways to get some action going on wayward choppers. Copy your communications to the following politicos:
    Coucilman Steve Levin,
    State Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon,
    State Senator Velamette Montgomery, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Congressmember Nydia Velázquez,
    CB2 Manager Robert Perris,
    Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams
    and Mayor DiBlasio.

  • Willow Street Watch

    Thank you