Residents want noise chopped at downtown heliport

The Downtown Manhattan Heliport is hell on rotors, a group of riled-up residents and politicians charged at a rally Sunday.

Helicopter noise is causing a ruckus in Red Hook, Brooklyn Heights, downtown Manhattan and other neighborhoods, the group said as they advocated for the prohibition of all tourist flights from the heliport, which is on Pier 6.

“Addressing helicopter traffic is not only a quality-of-life issue for Brooklyn residents, it is a public safety matter for those in the sky and on the ground,” said U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY).

Residents charge that flight companies are violating an agreement reached last year not to fly tourists over Brooklyn or up the East River. Now they want the city’s Economic Development Corp., which oversees the heliport, to enforce a ban on all tourist flights. Calls to the EDC for comment were not returned.

Residents say the problem was exacerbated last year, when tourist flights at the West 30th Street Heliport were stopped following a quality-of-life lawsuit. That prompted tourists who wanted aerial tours of the skyline to book trips downtown, the only remaining location offering sightseeing trips in Manhattan.

“My office is inundated with calls about the huge disturbance this is causing in the everyday lives of many of my constituents,” said Councilwoman Sara M. Gonzalez (D-Brooklyn).