For residents across Long Island, especially those in Floral Park and East Hills, low-flying planes and their auditory and visual disturbances have become a constant reality.
While efforts to diminish adverse effects have been sought for well over a decade, the towns of North Hempstead and Hempstead are taking a different approach: suing the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA.
“We acknowledge that we live in the path of two of the nation’s busiest airports. And we all acknowledge that litigation should be a last resort,” North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said. “But after years of good faith efforts being ignored, our residents have arrived at that juncture. At stake is their quality of life and, more alarming, their overall well-being, and as their elected representatives, we will not stand idly by.”
The suit filed in the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., specifically targets the flights routed to John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The town’s two supervisors announced the lawsuit Wednesday in Floral Park, one of the communities most impacted by the low-flying planes.
DeSena and Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin called the issue one concerning “quality of life.”
They said concerns go beyond disturbances and encompass potentially negative health effects due to the air pollution caused by the planes.
The Town of North Hempstead reported a 70% increase in the number of flights over the town and a decrease in altitude by up to 1,000 feet. Up to 300 planes fly over the town every day, and 388,000 airplane noise complaints were filed last year.
The suit follows what the supervisors called inaction by the FAA in response to a petition they filed last summer. The petition urged the Federal Aviation Administration to study and explore alternative air routes and asked for a response within 90 days or else a lawsuit would filed – which they followed through with.
“Not only are our communities being victimized by increased flights, noise, and air pollution … but the FAA didn’t even have the courtesy to respond to the concerns of more than one million residents who live here,” Clavin said. “Enough is enough. The Town of Hempstead and Town of North Hempstead are fed up with the FAA’s apparent indifference to our community’s quality of life and public health, and this federal lawsuit will force them to be responsive and accountable to our residents.”
North Hempstead Council Member Christine Liu, who represents parts of New Hyde Park, expressed support for the lawsuit.
“For too long, our residents have endured relentless airplane noise and air pollution without relief,” Liu said. “In the summer months, the problem worsens as the low-flying planes make it nearly impossible to enjoy the outdoors or even keep our windows open. This legal action is a critical step towards holding the FAA accountable and demand solutions that protect our community’s health, well-being, and quality of life.”
