Today, Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) and Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), released the following joint statement on the East River helicopter crash: 

“This crash is another tragic reminder that these helicopter tourist flights pose significant public safety risks to our community.  At minimum, these flights should be suspended until there can be an exhaustive review of the safety hazards of operating these flights in such a congested urban airspace. 

“Not only do these helicopter flights present safety dangers, but, as we have repeatedly noted before, they also cause significant noise pollution in Manhattan and Brooklyn communities. Following this tragedy, we once again—as we have many times before—call on the FAA, the City and municipalities in New Jersey to ban helicopter flights over Manhattan and Brooklyn.  Helicopter tourism flights are simply a bad fit for airspace above the most densely populated city in the U.S.”  

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