An aircraft noise monitor has been installed at the East Hills Village Park to track noise levels coming from flights that cross the North Shore en route to John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials announced Thursday.
The installation comes nearly two years after four federal officials wrote a letter to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to work alongside the Federal Aviation Administration to install air noise monitors throughout portions of Queens and Long Island, including in East Hills and Old Brookville.
“We know that airplane noise is impacting local communities — making it harder for our families living on the North Shore. We also know that the best way to truly understand the local impact airplane noise is having is through additional air noise monitors in our communities,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington), who was one of the officials to sign the letter. “I am thrilled to see the installation of an airplane noise monitor in East Hills, an initiative I have pushed since 2013, and the next step towards improving the quality of life for residents in areas under these flight paths.”
Frequent use of JFK’s 22L and 22R runways, which utilize North Shore airspace and make up half of all landings at the airport and, has been a source of complaints for East Hills residents and officials in recent years.
Among the chief concerns is the low height with which aircraft fly and the volume with which they cross Long Island.
East Hills officials have said flights passing through the village have been measured at 80-90 decibels. The federal standard for airplane noise is 65 decibels.
“There is no question whatsoever that the noise monitors will bear out what we already know, that our village and others are being subjected to excessive noise from the planes that frequently fly in low overhead,” Village of East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz said. “They wake us up at night, they erode our quality of life. The answer is through an equitable redistribution of flights.”
Aircraft noise monitors measure the decibel levels of flights in real time.
Data from these measurements is made available through the Port Authority’s data-sharing program, accessible through the agency’s website.
The Federal Aviation Administration does not use the data from air noise monitors when producing noise reports, instead using a computer model that does not take ground noise monitoring into consideration, officials said.
Israel has sought alternative routes for 22L and 22R flights.
During a news conference last summer at the East Hills Village Theater, Israel threatened to cut funding to the FAA if it did not begin seeking additional flight paths that avoid Long Island.
