NY Senate Passes Helicopter Noise Tax Amid Push to Ban Flights

The New York State Senate passed legislation Wednesday that would impose a tax on noisy helicopters ferrying wealthy residents to airports and tourists to sightseeing destinations around New York City.

The move comes as New York’s representatives in Congress and the advocacy group Stop The Chop NY/NJ make a renewed federal push to ban non-essential flights over the city after a sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in April, killing all six people on board. Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D) and Nicole Malliotakis (R) have sponsored federal legislation banning such trips within a 20-mile radius of the Statute of ...