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, July 31, 2023 In Attendance Carl Baessler, Village of Atlantic Beach Andrew Weiss, Village of Floral Park Laurence Quinn, Village of Garden City Akiva Lubin, Village of Lawrence Shaynee Kessler, Village of Woodsburgh James Vilardi, TVASNAC Director Edward Lino, Town of Hempstead Deputy Town Attorney’s Office Present at tonight’s meeting in addition to the above committee members, was Matthew Capp representing Congressman Anthony D’Esposito, Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, Bill Florio representing Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello, Town of Hempstead Councilwoman Laura Ryder, Tom McAleer representing the Village of Valley Stream and residents Joseph Mundy, Jean Baptiste Schmid, Martine Mbiaka, Denise Riggio, Catherine Dells, Steve Fanno, Brenton Williams, Mike McCarthy, Dan Carbonaro, Sharon Marfan, Barbara Kesselman, Sheryl Butler, Line Emmanuel, Tiffany Capers, Colleen Henry, Diana Ihmann, Paul Youngfleisch, John Giambalvo, Lynn Ranzer, Cathy Miller, Jackie Smith, Teresa Jackson, Dvid Anderson, Stacey Vargas, Michael Daloia, Elaine Miller, Dennis Coleman, Jacques Provine, Louis Gorozdi, Jason Brattner and Adam Szerenson. Town of Hempstead Councilwoman Laura Ryder welcomed residents to the meeting noting the same concerns regarding air traffic noise and pollution from constant airplanes going over her house in Lynbrook all day and night. The Councilwoman assured those present that Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin and her fellow Town Board members are committed to working together to hold the FAA accountable, even if it means taking them to court. James Vilardi thanked Supervisor Don Clavin, Councilwoman Laura Ryder and the rest of the Town Board for their support, specifically commending Supervisor Clavin for appointing a Town Attorney to TVASNAC; the first attorney assigned to the committee in its 57 years in existence. James Vilardi explained that the committee is trying to get simple information from the FAA – actual raw data from their noise monitors documenting decibel levels of planes flying over our homes. The FAA so far has not turned over this information and is instead providing decibel averages rather than individual decibel recordings to make the issue seem a lot better than reality. The requested data is necessary to prove decibel levels of planes flying over our homes are at unhealthy levels and immediate changes must be made. 1 Congressman Anthony D’Esposito’s representative Matthew Capp advised that the FAA Reauthorization Plan, in which sections 476 and 477 relate to airplane noise mitigation in communities around the airports, did pass in the House of Representatives, Congressman Anthony D’Esposito voted in favor of the Bill and it is now on its way to the Senate. Matthew Capp commented that as a resident of Franklin Square he shares everyone’s frustrations and will bring their comments back to Congressman D’Esposito. Mr. Capp made himself available after the meeting to speak to residents. Andrew Weiss pointed out that Section 485 of the FAA Reauthorization Plan requests a thirdparty study on noise metrics. Elaine Miller reminded everyone that September 29th is the deadline for public comments for The Reauthorization Plan Bill Residents got up to speak and voice their anger, frustration and concerns as follows: • FAA is poisoning our children. • FAA is unconscionable. • FAA is violating our civil rights. • It’s criminal what the FAA is doing to residents. • FAA is in violation of their own noise regulations. • Health effects of exhaust particles on us, our children, our pets; fear of cancer. • Airplane traffic has increased substantially in the last several years. • Low flying planes set off solar sensors in backyards. • Planes are so low you can read lettering on the planes and see the pilot from our backyards. • Not disbursing planes; only utilizing Runway 22L for arrivals and Runway 4 for departures. • Living in a war zone with air and ear assaults all day and all night. • Elmont received over 80% of JFK arrivals in July; sometimes coming in two at a time. • Planes overhead every two minutes is unreasonable. • No quality of life in our own homes. • Kids do not want to play outdoors because it’s too noisy. • Cannot utilize decks/backyards because of the incessant noise. • House shakes when planes fly overhead. • Several residents who lived here for decades are now considering moving due to the noise. • Sleep deprivation. • Decrease in house values. • Filthy windows from airplane exhaust. • Airplane noise should be taken into consideration when grieving taxes. Residents shared some solutions: • Collect data using Apple watch/Decibel apps and share with federal officials. • Everyone should request sound monitors for their backyard. • Find out why the Valley Stream sound monitor is not working. • All towns and villages should join forces. • Bring a class action lawsuit against the FAA. • Hold demonstrations. • Turn to social media. • Invite airlines to these meetings. • Disburse planes utilizing different runways. 2  • Floyd Bennett Field is an underused airport at the end of Flatbush Avenue that is only being used by helicopters, open to airplanes to take traffic from JFK Airport. • Build an airport in the water; Japan built three so planes are not flying over homes. • Get airlines to conform to the latest sound mitigation exhaust systems on the jet liners. Andrew Weiss reminded everyone of the short-term, simple solutions that are achievable and were outlined in Supervisor Don Clavin’s recent letter to our federal officials; planes should use the glide slope method rather than the stack method currently being used, fan out planes for a more equal distribution over communities so everyone gets some planes overhead, but no one gets all the planes. The long- term solution here is technology – noise is made by the plane’s engine and noise is made by the wind bouncing off the fuselage. While wind cannot be controlled, planes must be redesigned to reduce wind noise and engine noise. Also, planes can take off at sharper angles, so they go higher faster and therefore are quieter from the ground. One resident, Steve Fanno, a retired air traffic controller offered some interesting insights: Approximately ten years ago, Federal Express told the FAA they had to get more planes in the air to be more efficient. They did a study for the FAA and were able to reduce the separation between planes from between five and eight miles to two miles. This is the reason more planes are in the air these days. Airplanes take off into the wind and they land into the wind. The climate has changed, we are getting more East, Northeast, and North winds in our communities, so the prevailing runway to be used these days is Runway 4. If you look at the chart for departures, when planes come off Runway 4 they all turn to a 100 degree heading. When they turn that way, planes go right over Valley Stream. If they stayed on a 40 heading, they would fly right over Floral Park, but they can’t because then they would be too close to LaGuardia Airport. There was a time when they used different headings for different departures so anyone heading to the West and to the North was on a 70 heading, and we only got Eastbound and Southbound planes (half the traffic). Visit facilities, talk to the air traffic controllers, and let them know how badly this problem is affecting our communities. They will work with us and do anything they are allowed to do and is safe, including using divergent headings. For safety reasons during the air show at Jones Beach, temporary flight restrictions are placed throughout the area – aircraft departing on Runway 4 out of JFK are not turned to a 100 heading, instead, they are turned to a 70 heading to stay away from the planes in the air show. This method should be utilized more often, not just for the air show. Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages encouraged residents to keep filing complaints with the FAA and pointed out that Senators Schumer and Gillibrand should get more involved with this issue and assist us in getting the FAA ombudswoman here to a meeting. James Vilardi thanked everyone for attending tonight’s meeting and assured residents their suggestions would be considered to help formulate a plan going forward. Prepared by: Carol Renta Secretary, TVASNAC 3