Now there are helicopters also making noise

From WPIX:

The FAA changed the flight path around LaGuardia last summer.

Neighbors have been trying to get the agency to reconsider the decision.

Now, they are noticing increased helicopter traffic.

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"Noise torture" in Bayside

From WPIX:

All was quiet in Bayside Queens on Monday. This is rare because residents like Cecilia Cody say it is normally filled with, “Noise torture, that’s what it is.”

Cody has lived here for the past thirty-five years. However, it was only until recently that her nightly ritual started requiring a soft touch to block out the sounds overhead, “I put in earplugs to go to sleep. This is what we are left to deal with, it’s simply horrendous.”

What she is referring to is the sound from airliners utilizing a “TNNIS 4″ climb out of LaGuardia’s Runway 13. On Monday, major carriers were making their ascents in the opposite direction.

However, ever since early 2012 there has been a dramatic uptick in traffic heading over Bayside Queens and the surrounding areas due to the FAA opting to utilize a flying procedure called “TNNIS 4″ climbs.

Assemblyman Ed Braunstein lives in the district and is trying to change the pattern that become more prevalent more than 18-months ago. According to Braunstein, on certain days the takeoffs begin early, “Starting at 6:00 a.m. you can set your watch to it. You’ll have a plane going off once a minute.”

FAA imagery shows what the “TNNIS 4″ climbs look like compared to the Whitestone and Flushing climb in side-by-side imaging. The trajectory of the “TNNIS 4″ Climb is much more concentrated and the repeated ascents more accurate. The pink area that completely covers the map in one section reflect the ascents that are right on top of one another.

The reason for this is due to RNAV equipped aircraft which has improved settings and navigation.

According to a report, this is about de-conflicting airspace.

Assemblyman Braunstein agrees, adding, “It’s really the flight traffic at JFK drives the flight traffic at LaGuardia.”

However, what Assemblyman Braunstein along with other politicians at the local, state, and federal level are hoping for, is that the FAA conducts a study utilizing monitors on the ground to identify if measures need to be taken regarding the aforementioned, “noise torture.”

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Shelly really milking transportation allowance

From the NY Post:

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver spent $20,219 in taxpayer money over the past three years jetting from New York City to Albany — but the top-flight pol turned easy 150-mile, one-hour jaunts into epic 500-mile, five-hour odysseys in a greedy quest to rack up frequent-flier miles, according to sources and expense records.

Instead of finding cheap flights that connect directly from New York City to Albany, or taking less-costly trains or automobiles, the second-most powerful man in the state takes long, expensive detours through Philadelphia or Washington, DC.

“He brags about his ability to build up mileage,” said one Albany insider. “Taxpayers are footing the bill to allow Shelly to fly halfway around the world on a mileage program.”

This year alone, the Democratic kingmaker and bill slayer submitted 21 claims for reimbursement, with an average round trip costing $354 — while his colleagues slummed it on $82 round-trip Amtrak trains or stuffed themselves into carpools that cost $210 for gas and tolls.

Yet Silver doesn’t need to fly. The state provides him with a $15,000 Ford Taurus for the three-hour drive from his Lower East Side home to the Capitol. The 69-year-old jet-setter barely uses his taxpayer-gifted 2011 sedan, claiming just $832.78 for gas this year.

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