Jet-setting rich vacationers fuel Hamptons flap

EAST HAMPTON, New York — Ah, summer in the Hamptons. Cocktail parties. Beach gatherings. Celebrities. But for some eastern Long Island residents, the annual arrival of the jet set also brings the thumpety-thump of helicopters and whine of airplane engines.

This season’s aircraft buzz, centred on the tiny municipal airport in East Hampton, could be worse than it has been in years.

Last fall, a federal appeals court struck down nighttime curfews and limits on the frequency of “noisy” flights that town officials had imposed on the East Hampton Airport, which serves as a hub for rich beachgoers zipping in from New York City and points beyond.

The court said only the Federal Aviation Administration has authority to regulate flying hours.

The town asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal, but in the meantime, some fed-up Hamptons’ residents are now saying they want the airport shut down altogether. It’s something Santa Monica, California, decided to do over similar concerns earlier this year.

“The choppers — you can almost feel them coming before you hear them,” says Patricia Currie, a Noyac resident, who lives about 11 kilometres from the airport. “Very slowly, it gets louder and louder. It gives you time to dread the thing. There is a feeling of dread even though you know it’s going to pass.”

Although the airport is located on Long Island’s south shore, about 120 kilometres east of New York City, complaints about aircraft clatter stretch to communities many miles away. Adam Irving, who vacations in Orient on the northeastern tip of Long Island, about 13 kilometres from East Hampton, says low-flying helicopters are frequent annoyances.

The town of East Hampton, which said it logged 24,000 complaints from July 4, 2016, through Sept. 30, 2016, thought it had addressed the issue when it enacted laws in 2015 barring flights between 11 p.m. to 8 a.m., and a once-weekly limit on aircraft deemed noisy, according to FAA noise standards, between May and September.

An industry group called Friends of East Hampton Airport fought back in court. The town contended it did not come under FAA regulations because it had stopped receiving any funding from the agency several years ago.

The airport made $2.9 million in landing fees, rentals, leases and other income in 2016 and ended the year with a nearly $600,000 surplus. Income generated by the airport is being used to finance the town’s legal battles, which cost $1.9 million in the past three years, said councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.

She said the town is hoping to win its court fight and keep the airport operating with some of the restrictions restored.