Rep. Carolyn McCarthy Wants FAA To Pay For Toll-Free Hotline

A New York Congresswoman is backing anti-aviation NIMBYs in her district by calling on the FAA to cooperate in making it easier for her constituents to lodge complaints about aircraft noise.

The Five Towns Patch reports Carolyn McCarthy, (pictured,) a Democrat representing New York's Fourth District, sent a letter October 7 to FAA Regional Administrator Carmine Gallo and Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Director of Aviation Susan Baer, asking them to clearly delineate their jurisdictions and create a joint toll-free hotline for noise complaints, which she says would help citizens cut through the red tape of two large agencies and resolve the problem of increasing airplane noise.

McCarthy told the agencies, “I have heard from residents all over my district expressing their concern regarding the number of airplanes that fly over their homes." She has also asked the two agencies attend an October 24 meeting of the Town-Village-Aircraft-Safety & Noise Abatement Committee, and be prepared to respond to her inquiries.

McCarthy has been active on the aircraft noise issue in the past, at one point successfully sponsoring an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Act that encouraged the Port Authority to conduct a noise study focusing on the areas surrounding JFK and LaGuardia. She also introduced a bill which would have provided a tax credit for the installment of soundproofing in homes.

FMI: http://carolynmccarthy.house.gov/