Quantcast

Silence looms for 11 boro schools near airports

By Philip Newman

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has approved $31.7 million for soundproofing 31 schools near New York City airports, including 11 schools in Queens where residents have long complained about aircraft noise.

The amount to be spent is the most since the soundproofing project began nearly two decades ago, while the more than $5 million allocated to Msgr. McClancy Memorial High School near LaGuardia Airport is the largest on any single school.

The soundproofing project is a joint effort by the Port Authority and the Federal Aviation Administration, which contributes up to 90 percent of the money under its Airport Improvement Program.

The Port Authority makes up the balance of the funding and administers the soundproofing.

Soundproofing has been completed in 42 schools and is under way in 33 others in New York City and New Jersey. All schools in what the federal government calls “noise-affected areas” around airports have been or are being soundproofed.

Queens schools involved in the latest soundproofing project and the amount of money to be spent on each school:

Msgr. McClancy Memorial High School, Flushing, $5,250,000; John Bowne High School, Flushing, $3,300,000; IS 180Q, Rockaway Park, $3 million; Lexington School for the Deaf, Jackson Heights, $2,600,000; IS 198Q, Arverne, $2,300,000; Beach Channel High School, Rockaway Park, $2 million; St. Michael, Flushing, $250,000; PS 146Q, Howard Beach, $50,000; PS 195Q, Rosedale, $50,000; St. Pius X, Rosedale, $50,000; College of Aeronautics, Flushing, $50,000.

Since the Port Authority began its school soundproofing in 1983, it has committed $181.7 million to soundproofing 75 schools in New York and New Jersey.

“A quiet classroom is essential for quality education,” said Gov. George Pataki. “I applaud the Port Authority commissioners for the agency’s commitment to school soundproofing, an effective way to enhance learning in our New York schools. The Port Authority is showing that it is determined to be good neighbors to the people who live, work and learn near the agency's airports.”

Noise from the thousands of takeoffs and landings daily at LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International airports have brought protests for years from those living in parts of Queens near the airfields. For instance, the Queens borough presidents office said at least 150,000 people live close enough to LaGuardia to be forced to endure the din from jet engines.

The Port Authority was among the first and most persistent airport operators in the nation to lobby the federal government successfully to require aircraft with quieter Stage 3 engines on commercial flights and the agency has been pushing for years to require even quieter Stage 4 jets.

Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at [email protected] or call 229-0300, Ext. 136.