Hudson County Residents Demand Action On Low-Flying Helicopters

By: Jordan Coll

Low-flying helicopters have become an almost hourly fixture in the skies above Hudson County—and for many residents, the disruption has reached a breaking point. With choppers routinely hovering at low altitudes, community members are demanding accountability from aviation authorities and operators.

On the ground, residents across Hoboken, Jersey City and Bayonne have taken a stance on quality of life concerns, calling it an “unacceptable burden” ushered in by helicopters that fly over densely populated neighborhoods. Residents who spoke to New Jersey Urban News shared instances in which their apartment buildings shook in broad daylight as helicopters roamed by. 

“I do not wish this problem to my worst enemy, it is a public health crisis,” said Phillippia Athanasiou-Vaartstra, a Jersey City resident and founder of JC Heights Parents, a community-led group. 

Near these municipalities lies a heliport located in Kearny, wedged between the Passaic and Hackensack rivers, providing flight service to both private and charter flights. Many residents point to the heliport as the main hub of choppers flying over their neighborhoods, around 7,900 nonessential flights just this year alone stem from the heliport.

The Helo Holdings Inc. (HHI) Heliport is 7.26 acres and serves as a main base currently for FlyNYON and formerly for the now-defunct New York Helicopters.

FlyNYON, a helicopter touring privately held company dubbed “public enemy No.1” by anti-helicopter organizations such as Stop the Chop NY-NJ and Safe Skies Coalition, has been the subject of contention for residents in Hudson County. 

In an ADSB exchange flight tracker dataset requested by Safe Skies Coalition and reviewed by New Jersey Urban News, FlyNYON operated 6,143 operational tour flights this year, with 1,384 of them operating flights outside of the permitted time of operations, from January through May 15 of this year. According to the dataset, on average, 63 helicopters will fly per day, with essential flights making up only 1% of the flights coming from the HHI Heliport.

HHI logged more than 7,900 nonessential helicopter flights, alongside two news flights and 29 police flights, according to flight data. Of those nonessential flights, more than 6,000—about 77%—were operated by FlyNYON, a doors-off tour company that promotes midair selfies over New York landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. 

The company was the subject of a fatal crash in 2018, in which five passengers drowned in New York City’s East River and the pilot of the flight was the sole survivor. 

FlyNYON did not respond to a request for a statement related to resident complaints due to a spike in flight operation increases in Hudson County. Residents and city officials have argued that helicopter companies such as FlyNYON have violated the parameters agreed on between Kearny and Jeff Hyman, the CEO of HHI Inc. 

Back in 2014, in a sworn testimony at the town’s zoning board meeting, Hyman stated under oath that plans of operations would take place in the months of March through October from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and in the winter months from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

New Jersey Urban News reached out to Jeff Hyman regarding the testimony provided and the hours of operations at HHI Inc., but he did not respond to requests for comment. 

“My challenge right now is that [HHI Inc. has] expanded the business, but they did not come back to the zoning board,” said Kearny Mayor Carol Jean Doyle, in an interview with New Jersey Urban News. “He has to come back to the zoning board and explain why the hours have increased and the fact that he has changed his operation.”

The FAA governs airspace but offers little local enforcement, which critics say creates a bureaucratic void. Under federal regulations, aircraft over urban areas must maintain at least 1,000 feet altitude—except helicopters, which may fly lower if they do not endanger people or property. The FAA does not publicly release a daily registry of which companies or agencies are flying over Hudson County, making accountability difficult.

“The responsibility for flying neighborly resides with the pilot operating the helicopter,” said Richard Rohrig, a spokesperson for the FAA, citing that the arrangement falls under FlyNYON, HHI Heliport and the Town of Kearny. “Helicopters are not subject to the same minimum altitude restrictions as airplanes.”

The City of Hoboken announced its intent to file a lawsuit against the FAA last month in an effort to curtail helicopter activity.

“What we have been observing is similar to a game of Whack-a-mole,” Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, told New Jersey Urban News. “A problem is brought to their attention (FAA), they defer planes away from those areas and those other communities are at a disadvantage.”

Safety concerns have escalated following high-profile incidents. In April, a helicopter carrying a Spanish tourist family and their pilot crashed into the Hudson River, killing all six people on board. A few days after the incident, the FAA demanded that New York Helicopter Tours, who operated the flight, shut down permanently.

“The helicopter disintegrated right in front of me, I was not able to hear it but only see,” said Rashmi Maity, a resident who lives near the Newport Waterfront area, who witnessed the incident in the middle of a work call. “The way it fell, I instinctively knew whoever was on that flight couldn’t have made it out alive.”

Since 1983, there have been at least 30 helicopter crashes in New Jersey resulting in at least 31 fatalities, the New York Times reported on a crash at the Jersey Shore, the outcome led to the death of two people, and two injured.

In response to mounting health, environmental, and safety concerns, elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels have introduced multiple bills seeking to restrict non-essential helicopter operations. The proposed legislation includes measures to impose stricter regulations on tour companies and, in some cases, to ban recreational flights altogether.

On Capitol Hill, the issue has also gained traction. Congressman Rob Menendez (NJ-08) who co-sponsored the bill along with other regional lawmakers have introduced legislation to restrict non-essential helicopter flights within a 20-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty, called the Improving Helicopter Safety Act, a move that would effectively ground most tourist and commuter flights operating from heliports like the one in Kearny. 

“This tragedy is yet another example of the threat that non-essential helicopters pose to public safety, especially in the congested airspace over New Jersey and New York,” said Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8th) on the House floor May 6, referencing the April incident. “It’s clear that the helicopter industry is not a good actor or one willing to proactively take measures to protect our communities.”

The proposed laws would carve out exceptions for emergency services, law enforcement, and media—but tourist joyrides and luxury charters, they say, should no longer be prioritized over public health and urban tranquility.

“They deal with so much as it is already, having served our country, I talk to veterans who call me because of the flights and it triggers their PTSD,” said Assemblywoman Jessica Ramirez (D-Hudson) on a call with New Jersey Urban News.

Ramirez discussed a bill she co-sponsored with Assemblyman Julio Marenco (D-Hudson) to reduce tourist helicopter flights by 47% and seek to remove licensing from heliports that do not comply with set reductions, due to safety concerns following the April helicopter crash. The bill was introduced and then referred to the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Transportation–a department that oversees the state’s transportation sphere.

“This bill would actually help alleviate those residents and veterans who are in the way of the helicopter paths…the noise pollution is nonstop,” she said.

On June 4, Craig Guy met with Hyman, resulting in an agreement to limit 90% of flights out of Kearny to 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. during spring, summer, and fall and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during the winter. Additionally, Hyman agreed to not contract another flight tour company to replace the New York Helicopters, a sightseeing tour company. 

In the meeting, both Hudson County Executive Craig Guy and Hyman agreed to reroute helicopters headed to neighborhoods such as Greenville and Bayonne, rather than cities such as Jersey City, Hoboken, and Kearny. A figure provided by the county estimates an annual reduction of 3,000 flight operations in the area–financial loss is estimated to be around $1 million, according to reporting by NJ.com.

Advocacy groups, though, remain skeptical that private helicopter companies will comply with the new agreements reached in recent county and municipal negotiations. Corey Davis, a resident and a member of Safe Skies Coalition, said that changing flight paths was only a stopgap to a much larger issue. 

“I have become a reluctant aircraft enthusiast nowadays,” said Davis.  “Rerouting is merely a tactic they use to spread the pain out and keep people from organizing against them.”