North Shore Residents Irked By Helicopter Noise With Billy Joel At Center Of Controversy

Residents don't like the noise helicopters make when they take off and land on Centre Island and are debating over whether or not to allow private helipads, with Billy Joel at the center of the controversy, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Centre Island, N.Y.
Photo Credit: *Wikimedia Commons*

Donna Christopher

05/02/2019 4:22 p.m.

There are four private helipads mong 185 homes on the island, said the article.

Flying there by helicopter from Manhattan takes just 15 minutes as opposed to driving to Centre Island which takes two hours, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Billy Joel commutes to Madison Square Garden events by chopper from his waterfront estate.

Helipad opponents say noise from the choppers harms birds, and that having helicopters reduces property values, and think it's a danger to people, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The article noted helicopters have crashed on Centre Island.

Mayor Lawrence Schmidlapp told the newspaper he hears from neighbors complaining about helicopters taking off and landing.

There have been 15 noise complaints about helicopters since 2017, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The mayor made a proposal at the April 17 board meeting to deal with the controversy. If approved the measure would place limits to 15 landings per helipad every month, disallow new helipads, and get rid of helipads upon the sale of properties, unless to family members, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Click here for The Wall Street Journal article.

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