TESTIMONY
Mark Diller, Member of the Public, on Disruption Caused by Unnecessary Helicopter Flights During Public Events
3:48:53
·
105 sec
Mark Diller, speaking as a member of the public, testifies about the disruptive impact of unnecessary helicopter flights during public events.
- He recounts an experience at a Shakespeare in the Park performance of Hamlet in Central Park where a helicopter hovered overhead during the soliloquy, interrupting the event for attendees.
- He criticizes this as prioritizing some tourists over others for photo opportunities.
- He expresses support for the proposed bills to regulate helicopter traffic and commends the council members' foresight in addressing the issue.
Mark Diller
3:48:53
Good afternoon.
3:48:54
Thank you for hanging in so long.
3:48:57
Quick shout out to a staff council as well as the chair for hanging in with us.
3:49:01
Thank you.
3:49:03
I'm a member of one community board, and I work at another one.
3:49:06
I'm a member of the Civic Engagement Commission, and I'm testifying on behalf of none of those folks.
3:49:11
This is just me.
3:49:13
You've heard so much about the details on the science and and so forth that I won't burden you with a repetition.
3:49:22
So I'll just share one experience, which was Shakespeare in the park in Central Park last summer.
3:49:29
Right as Hamlet, was giving his soliloquy, which we can all quote.
3:49:34
Right?
3:49:35
Really dramatic moment of theater surrounded by all kinds of folks who were tourists themselves were interrupted by a helicopter literally hovering overhead so that I assume 1 or a small handful of tourists could take a photo.
Lincoln Restler
3:49:52
The
Mark Diller
3:49:54
so so the the the the unnecessary helicopter traffic.
3:49:59
In effect, it's some tourists against others, and this is not the kind of tourism welcome we want for all of our folks on the ground.
3:50:10
Someone once described parking as the fertility drug for car ownership, Well, the use of REDC heliports is surely the fertility drug of having excess and unnecessary helicopter traffic, I would encourage the adoption of the bills that you have put forward, and I thank you for the foresight and drafting and bringing them forward and for this hearing.
3:50:37
Thanks so much.
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Arline Bronzaft, Professor Emeritus at the City University of New York and Board Member of GrowNYC, on the Impacts of Noise from Transportation on Learning and Public Health
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Michael McCready, Upper West Side Resident, on the Severe Disturbance from Non-Essential Helicopter Flights