Keep your head in the sand, Benjamin Haber (“Stop complaining about aircraft noise,” Sept. 27-Oct. 3). While the Federal Aviation Administration flies overhead to challenge the quality of life for Bayside and Whitestone residents, you do not even live in the area and tell us not to complain.
Because you may be ineffective does not mean that the FAA has a free pass to force decible torture on us starting at 6:15 a.m. and often after midnight at less than one-minute intervals. I counted 62 low-flying plans in less than an hour right over my home.
Maybe you can live with that, but I cannot and will not. Bayside and Whitestone residents understand that when LaGuardia Airport changes flight patterns during the US Open it helps bring revenue to the city.
We do not have our heads in the sand. That is not the issue. We have shared “discomfort,” but there is a big difference when an entire flight pattern suddenly, without notification, changes, thereby causing families to stop conversations, babies to be woken up, muted TVs, veterans to have flashbacks of bomb attacks, a lack of sleep and a potential decrease in property values.
The FAA has other options than to fly low over residences. Unlike you, Haber, I will continue to have a meaningful dialogue with my local politicians who listen and have our interests in mind. Thanks to state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside), state Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside) and Community Board 11 leaders and neighbors for trying to make a difference and keeping your heads high and out of the sand.
Cecilia Cody
Bayside
