AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2011 - 53

limited times. All of the operators— tour, charter, and corporate—keep maintenance and administrative hangars outside of the city, mostly in New Jersey. East 34th Street is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. for corporate taxi only. Agusta, Bell, and Sikorsky rotorcraft literally dip into the small heliport (tucked anonymously under FDR Drive) and drop off passengers, rotors never stopping. The passengers—often employees of corporate giants such as Pfizer, United Technologies, and MassMutual—are coming into the city for work at headquarters and will leave for home that evening. The trip by helicopter is a short hop from their bases in Massachusetts, New York state, and New Jersey—a much more time-consuming journey by car or train. West 30th Street has its own problems. It is currently operating on a renewing 30-day lease, which has been in place since the Friends of the Hudson River Park (FHRP) sued to have it closed in 2007. Ironically, the park, which then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani pushed to create after 9/11 to help bring his city back, had no problem accepting the money generated by heliport activity

while the park was under construction. But now the runners, bicyclists, and others who enjoy the 550-acre park, which runs five miles along the Hudson River, don’t appreciate the noise from the 500-foot-long heliport (it has 11 landing pads, seven on land and four over the water). It’s still a popular landing site; on this day musician Kid Rock is waiting inside its cramped trailer office for his ride to a concert in New Jersey with a return later that night. Downtown Manhattan also has limited hours. After FHRP sued West 30th Street, a compromise was reached and all tour helicopters fly from Downtown Manhattan only. The heliport operates from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., although it is open

seven days a week. After the August 2009 fatal accident in which a Piper Saratoga collided with a Liberty tour helicopter, killing nine people, the FAA, in cooperation with AOPA and the Eastern Region Helicopter Council (ERHC), established the New York Special Flight Rules Area (NY SFRA) which further enhanced the safety of the Hudson River Corridor. One year later, in response to increasing political demand, the New York City Economic Development Corp. imposed that tour helicopters fly a precise and regulated route. Happy tourists Liberty Helicopters is the oldest and largest sightseeing and charter heli-

Tourists must walk single file within the yellow lines as a constant stream of helicopters takes off and lands at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport (below). Not on the flight—but important to everyone who visits New York—is One World Trade Center, or the Freedom Tower, under construction at the World Trade Center site (right). The twin tower sites are now black reflecting pools (bottom right in the photo) and will not be rebuilt.

AOPA PILOT • 53 • SEPTEMBER 2011

AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2011