Battles against tourist helicopters and tall buildings that cast shadows on Central Park are heating up.
Activists with a group called Stand against the Shadows plan a march starting at Columbus Circle on Sunday, November 8 at 10:30 a.m. and will march East on 57th street to Sutton Place, rain or shine. They’re telling people to bring black umbrellas. The de Blasio administration has declined to order a moratorium on super-tall buildings just South of Central Park despite calls by community boards and preservation groups in the area. Opponents created the video below.
City Council members including Helen Rosenthal have proposed to ban tourist helicopters from flying over the city, and will hold a public hearing next week. Locals have complained about the helicopters for years, arguing that the loud hovering aircraft have marred oases like Riverside Park.
One opponent who contacted us noted that the complaints about the helicopters are handled by an economic development agency, when they are reviewed at all. The agency is there to serve the tourist business owners, not residents, he wrote. “I have often used 311 to report tourist helicopters flying low or far over Riverside Park. Sometimes I get a reply saying they were within requirements Sometimes I hear nothing. The NYC Economic Development Corporation, which handles these complaints, depends upon the Eastern Region Helicopter Council, an industry organization, to evaluate them, which is hardly an impartial source. Complaints are pointless. Just visit Riverside Park near the Boat Basin any day and let the noise speak the truth.”
The helicopter industry argues a ban will result in layoffs and will cause economic growth to slow.
The City Council Committee on Environmental Protection will hold the hearing on Thursday, November 12 at 1pm in the Chambers at City Hall; a rally is planned beforehand at noon on the steps of City Hall, one opponent tells us. “If this issue matters to you, come to the hearing and give testimony in person, or submit written testimony to the Committee Counsel, Samara Swanston, at SSwanston@council.nyc.gov by the end of the day on Thursday, November 12. Kindly cc my Legislative Director, Sarah Mallory (SMallory@council.nyc.gov), on the email,” writes Helen Rosenthal.
Protect our parks!
New Yorkers will complain about anything. The shadows aren’t a problem at all. For a few minutes a day—and really only in the winter—there will be some long shadows. Who cares?
Yes, Einstein, it IS a problem,and not just in winter.
The shadows cast by the 2 gigantic eyesores already completed and the 2 in progress will alter the entire ecosystem of the south end of Central Park.
New Yorkers with their heads up their a**es complain about anything
The UWS has more people w/ nothing to do w/ their lives but complain and whine about any changes to ‘their’ city than anywhere else.
Your attack on people who care enough about their city is unwarrented. But I guess that it is cool to not give a shit about anyone or anything.
Good luck with that.
Watch your language, please.
k
Have you noticed that you complain a lot about people who complain?
If I don’t complain about the complainers, who will?
Some people complain a lot about those who complain about those who complain…
Right On!…as the Hippies used to say!
Guess what: THE SHADOWS ARE NOT PERMANENT!
They MOVE, because to our earthling eyes the sun APPEARS to MOVE across the sky!!
Full Disclosures:
(a) it’s NOT Apollo carrying the sun on a chariot across the sky!;
(b) it’s US what’s moving, and cave-dwellers may check that out at
So that which is in shadow NOW will NOT BE IN SHADOW some 10 or 15 minutes from now!
AND, BREAKING NEWS! On cloudy days there will be NO SHADOWS!!
So let us concern ourselves with deeper Central Park problems, such as the one that so bothered Holden Caulfied — namely, ‘where DO the ducks go in the winter?’
Hmmm…perhaps “The Shadow knows!”
Re: The great old-time radio show, The Shadow:
Do you, by any chance, listen to the Golden Age of Radio hosted by Max Schmid?
(The one redeeming feature of WBAI)
You are not making sense.
Just tryin’ to help.
Nathan, to answer your question of “Who cares”, evidently enough people do to organize and plan a march.
As to my question: “Why don’t other’s care?”, you make that answer obvious too.
Apathetic, lazy, disinterested in life, misinformed, snarky…and the list goes on.
I think ‘caring’ by getting your lawmakers to dictate to people what they can do w/ their own property is typically driven by people wanting to flex their power, rather than the actual stupid shadow that they will likely never be stood in by those same whiners. It’s not apathetic, it’s the belief that you shouldn’t have the right to inflict your personal views on other people’s personal property.
Chris, you do know that Central Park is a public space, right?
And that not all rights are derived from property, right?
Regarding the helicopters, is there not some reasonable middle ground between the status-quo and a complete ban?
“Stand Against the Shadows”?? Really? Is that today’s flavor of Upper West Side Whine? I can’t imagine what these folks do during an eclipse.
hahahaha. Right? This is so ridiculous I can barely wrap my head around it. What would they do if they had real life problems? I wonder if they know large/dense trees in Central Park ALSO cause shadows (as do the large rocks and the bridges.) The horror!
Whining about the group’s name Jason?
With or without shadows why do we need any more 100 story buildings that sit empty when we have such a need for affordable housing? We don’t. These buildings are built out of greed for people who have too much money that they don’t know what to do with it. Instead of giving back, they choose to buy things they don’t need and let the rest of us deal with the loss of the sunlight as we mortals only have access to the park not the penthouses with their endless views and light. Protect our Parks. Let’s march!
Re: ” These buildings are built out of greed for people who have too much money that they don’t know what to do with it. Instead of giving back, they choose to buy things they don’t need
NO ONE can ever have too much money!
NO ONE has to “give back” UNLESS THEY WANT TO, as so many wealthy NY’ers have done since the Gilded Age.
Ex. Andrew Carnegie may have been a “robber baron” but he was also an incredible philanthropist, as these Wikipedia entries attest:
Carnegie library, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Hero Fund, Carnegie Mellon University and Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
See also: Carnegie Hall, Tuskegee Institute”
And the same can be said for many many other billionaires, Astor, Gould, etc. and EVEN (GASP!) a certain 3-term former NYC Mayor!
Neither you nor most other Rag-Readers could ever afford a $1,000-per-plate benefit for the Central Park Conservancy…but many did attend a few nights ago.
And their multiple $1,000 donations will CONTRIBUTE SO MUCH MORE for the upkeep of our wonderful park than your faux-populist-cum-pseudo-socialist-cum-bomb-throwing rant about billionaire housing “destroying the entire eco-system of the park!
Stan, I beg you to consider not parking your scooter on your caps lock key.
Capitalizing SELECT words and portions of text for emphasis is not evidence of Caps Lock.
STOP RESPONDING TO TROLLS PLEASE, IT’S ONE POSTER
NY’ers care about their home like anyone
It is pretty annoying when trying to have a respite from the noise of the city, whether you are kayaking on the Hudson on a weekend afternoon, playing tennis in Central Park, or walking in the greenery, when your peacefulness is shattered by the incessant droning of helicopters carrying tourists. I counted 6 in one 20 minute period while out kayaking. This is an out of control practice that needs to be regulated. I will be writing in.
“People with counting compulsions may also count without thinking about a specific number. They might count their steps when walking, count tiles on the ceiling, or count cars driving past. The counting may be mental or aloud.”
Or helicopters, they weren’t black helicopters were they?
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a WSR topic that got more comments from real estate and development industry employees and profiteers as this! There’s no need for you to go so far overboard; with Cuomo, the State Legislature, City Hall and the City Council on your payroll you needn’t worry.
I’m more concerned about the news copters that often hover for long periods of time in the same spot when they’re covering an event. It’s eerie when you don’t know what’s going on and often it’s not something all that important. Of course the news should be covered, but copters should be limited in the amount of time they can stay above a particular area.
Re: “but copters should be limited in the amount of time they can stay above a particular area.”
They ARE limited, by an innocuous glass circle approximately 2 inches in diameter.
It is called a FUEL GAUGE !!
Think of it in Emoji terms:
Needle at far right = Happy Face!
Needle in middle = Worried Face!
Needle at far LEFT = (use your imagination, as this is a family-friendly site)
Agreed.
I have lived across from Riverside Park for 20 years and have been retired for most of that time. I really think anyone who is worried about the noise from tourist helicopters should contact the National Misophonia Hotline for help. I can also recommend the Moldex 6600 ear plug which at -33dB is the most effective hearing protection of its kind. With the 6600’s and Mother’s Little Helper and all the UWS NIMBYs will feel serene once more.
Seems that it might be time to increase your dosage of ‘Mother’s Little Helper”.
All those many years of retirement are causing you to diagnosis your neighbors as having Misophonia.
Just helpin’
Thanks!!
Next time I need a heapin’ dose of poorly worded non sequitur I’ll know who to call.
Ted, thanks for the lesson in Grammer. To be more specific:
You deny your neighbors their right to oppose the loud noises that eminate from tourist helicopters and proceed to diagnose them with Misophonia. Your recommendation is that they need drugs (“Mothers Little Helpers”).
Are there still problems with my grammer that prevent you from seeing what you have written here?
DB
Uhm, I don’t know how to break this to you but I know what I wrote because, uh, I wrote it. It would also be hard for me to deny something I chose to publish in a public forum. I stand by my opinion that tourist helicopters are a mild distraction at worst in a city full of major irritants. I also stand by my assertion that some of my UWS neighbors are overly sensitive to things they perceive as “intrusions” on “their” city. Tourists bring lots of jobs and revenue to NYC. They belong here too.
PS The pipes, the pipes are calling….I suggest you listen.
Ted,
The reason I did repeat your words was to help you to see what you wrote and to avoid your subsequent denial of your own words.
But, alas, that did not help, for you have now rewritten your origional Comment from recommending Valium to the “UWS NIMBYs” to: “Many stress disorders are amenable to pharmacotherapy which I suggest.”
DB
Now your comment is just redundant as it simply restates what I already said.
The essence of my remark is that I believe neighbors who strenuously object to tourist helicopters are overly sensitive to that particular noise (especially considering the sirens, motorcycles and car horns that are a part of daily life on Riverside Drive) and this may be a sign of misophonia which is a ” a … disorder, commonly thought to be of neurological origin, in which negative emotions (anger, flight, hatred, disgust) are triggered by specific sounds. The sounds can be loud or soft.” Many stress disorders are amenable to pharmacotherapy which I suggest.
Lets move fast on this, we are already destroying the UWS skyline.
If by “we” you mean greedy developers, then yes I agree with you.
The City went soft awhile ago when it came to zoning and approving the “super talls”
Any Developer that is planning a Sky Scrapper must remember this is the most iconic city in the world and it hurts all of us if a generic tower is erected.
Sadly nothing will be done about this and we will slowly slip into mediocrity.
They could mandate that if you build over 50 floors that the top 5 floors have to be rent stabilized units that would be the end of super-talls. 🙂
LIFE IN NYC IS SO MUCH BETTER WITH BILL DE BLASIO AS MAYOR.
The tourist helicopters are a complete nuisance to all our waterfront pats and neighborhoods. These tourist helicopters fly all day every day. the noise coming from helicopters is offensive and terribly annoying. All our waterfront parks are completely ruined by the constant droan of low flying helicopters. Governors island is complete hell, as the choppers circle the the island all day long. there is no reprive from the noise, it is constant.
We the taxpayers matter, and we should. This is where we live work and spend money. We should have our quality of life back. Right now our waterfront pars are completely ruined by constant noise.
I also do believe for one minute that the tourist helicopters generat 33 million, that is complete, I dont believe that for a scond. Mayor Guiliani banned the tourist helicopters for quality of life issues, Bloomger re-instated them, he obviously did not care about the hundreds of thousands of taxpayer. shame on him. These tourist helicopters need to be banned once and for all, forever.