Town-Village Aircraft Safety & Noise Abatement Committee

TOWN-VILLAGE AIRCRAFT SAFETY & NOISE ABATEMENT COMMITTEE One Washington Street, Hempstead, New York 11550 (516) 489-5000 x3296 – TVASNAC@tohmail.org Meeting Minutes Monday, April 24, 2023 In Attendance James Vilardi, TVASNAC Executive Director Carl Baessler, Village of Atlantic Beach Andrew Weiss, Village of Floral Park Laurence Quinn, Village of Garden City Akiva Lubin, Village of Lawrence Richard Pallisco, Village of New Hyde Park Sean Wright, Village of Valley Stream Edward Lino, Town of Hempstead Deputy Town Attorney’s Office Meredith Hughes, Representing Legislator Richard Nicolello Executive Director James Vilardi called the meeting to order, attendance was taken, and a quorum was established. James Vilardi asked if everyone had reviewed the March 27, 2023, minutes and if there were any changes. Hearing none, Carl Baessler moved to approve the minutes, and Richard Pallisco second the motion. Edward Lino provided the committee with copies of the data received from the FAA in response to the F.O.I.L. request submitted. The F.O.I.L. request was for raw data recorded by the noise monitors in neighborhoods surrounding LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy Airports within the jurisdiction of the Town of Hempstead complied between October 1, 2021, and October 1, 2022. The committee agreed that the information provided by the FAA was completely useless as it represents an average and not the actual data recorded. • Larry Quinn commented that on October 4, 5 and 6, 2021 the data indicates a “0” for DNL for those days which does not seem possible. It does not make sense that no planes flew overhead for three straight days. Additionally, the mathematical computations do not add up; the data does not add up to the averages provided by the FAA which begs the question – how does the FAA compute the average? How is the FAA using the missing data (0) when computing the average? • James Vilardi stated we would have to contact the FAA again notifying them that they did not provide the information we requested and requested Edward Lino to draft the letter. • James Vilardi suggested that in our follow up letter to the FAA we ask if they, and the Port Authority, have interfaced with the New York State Department of Health on the actual decibel readings of these monitors because it could threaten the health and safety of our residents. 1 At this point in the meeting, New Hyde Park resident Michael McCarthy joined the meeting to air some of his concerns. Mr. McCarthy told the committee that he was a retired airplane mechanic and is quite familiar with the workings of airplanes and flight patterns. Mr. McCarthy’s biggest concerns were not only the frequency and noise of planes flying overhead, but he also condemned the FAA for not providing any information to residents about three planes that recently had a “near misses” at Lakeville Road and Jericho Turnpike in New Hyde Park. Supervisor Don Clavin joined the meeting along with Councilwoman Laura Ryder and thanked the committee for their work on behalf of the residents of the town. The Councilwoman was introduced to everyone present and stated that as a resident of Lynbrook she was going to speak with the Mayor regarding Lynbrook becoming a member of the committee. Councilwoman Ryder expressed how appreciative she is for the work this group does and will be a strong advocate as airplane noise is such an irritant and affects our quality of life. Councilwoman Ryder stated that she attended a few of the meetings held by Plane Sense and was impressed with their enthusiasm and tenacity. Supervisor Clavin assured the committee that he believes Congressman Anthony D’Esposito will advocate on our behalf in Washington. • James Vilardi suggested we ask Congressman D’Esposito to try and change the law mandating the FAA to utilize actual decibel level versus an average in documenting airplane noise over neighborhoods. James Vilardi once again stated that he believes we must get the FAA in court to demonstrate they are violating public health policy by flying planes too low and subsequently exceeding the accepted decibel level. • Edward Lino informed the committee that he has read up on previous case law, and the FAA and federal government have such a strong hold that going to court will be difficult. Mr. Lino feels our best bet is to get the data we are looking for and reach out to our federal officials requesting their support in speaking to the FAA on our behalf. Supervisor Don Clavin supports the idea of holding a public forum to create a record and present information obtained at the meeting to our delegation. The Supervisor suggested holding three community meetings: one in the Five Towns, one in Floral Park/New Hyde Park/Garden City Park and one in Valley Stream to bring the information to the residents. Supervisor Don Clavin and Councilwoman Laura Ryder thanked the committee once again and left the meeting. Michael McCarthy told the committee again about the near miss in New Hyde Park, stating that he contacted the Mayor of New Hyde Park, but never received any information about the problem. Mr. McCarthy further requested a phone number to call and complain about the airplane noise and Richard Pallisco supplied Mr. McCarthy with this information. Larry Quinn stated that according to the data we received, airports average 37,000 planes per month, cut in half is 18,000 planes landing/departing or 600 per day, which works out to be 1 plane every 145 seconds. Mr. Quinn further stated that in our follow up letter to the FAA, we should ask for data for one monitor for one entire month, because then we would only be asking for 18,000 data points and we would be able to identify troublesome time periods, clusters, particular carriers that are more to blame than others, frequency of loudest planes and time of day. Mr. Quinn suggests asking for Floral Park monitor arrival data as this monitor will also pick up data from New Hyde Park and Garden City, and Inwood monitor data to capture departure data. 2  • It was determined that August is the busiest month for airplane traffic overhead in Floral Park, and the committee agreed to request August 2022 data from the Floral Park and Inwood monitors from the FAA in our follow up letter. Edward Lino recapped the points that should be included in our follow up letter to the FAA: • The data they sent us was not the data that was requested (raw data versus average). • The data sent is incomplete; there are 0’s for some days and the math does not compute. • New data request – August 2022 raw data from the Floral Park and Inwood monitors only. • Has the FAA and the Port Authority interfaced with the New York State Department of Health on the actual decibel readings of these monitors due to the health and safety of residents? James Vilardi asked if anyone had any items to add. Hearing none, Akiva Lubin called for the meeting to be adjourned and Sean Wright second the motion. Prepared by: Carol Renta Secretary, TVASNAC 3