Noise Complaints Spike in Brooklyn After Uber Launches Helicopter Service to JFK

"An influx of on-demand chopper services like Uber Copter and Blade offering airportgoers an alternative to Manhattan gridlock for as little as $95 are flooding the skies over brownstone Brooklyn and lower Manhattan — and assaulting residents’ eardrums," reports Sara Dorn.

One resident of Lincoln Place in Brooklyn recorded 30 helicopters flying overhead between 7 am and 7 pm on November 15. Another Brooklyn resident reports nine helicopters in a 90-minute period on December 11.

"Citywide, gripes to the 311 hotline about helicopter noise have skyrocketed 150% to 2,602 through Nov. 30, from last year’s total of 1,039 complaints. The previous record of 1,505 complaints was set in 2015," according to Dorn.

Uber Copter launched service in New York City in July, and expanded service in October. As reported by Dorn, the company could take a longer route over the East River to connect to JFK, but that would cost and time. More on the flights causing the ruckus, and the lack of federal regulations regarding commercial helicopter flights, is included in the article.