One of my favorite apps in the world UBER is adding fuel to an already raging fire and has more than a few Hamptonite’s lederhosen in bunches! They’ve offering rides between NYC and the east end through a helicopter site called Blade. These “UBER CHOPPER” rides are a flat rate of $2500 for a five seat chopper ride. This is just another reason the battle for quiet skies is getting louder on the East End. New helicopter routes and flying patterns are making life a thunderous hell for thousands of residents at all hours of the day and night in the Hamptons. In fact, according to sources complaints about air traffic noise have tripled in just one year alone!
That’s why you’re likely seeing some new bumper stickers around town declaring “HELICOPTERS SUCK – JUST SAY NO TO HTO.” A quick tutorial now, HTO is the FAA code for East Hampton Airport. Anyway, In my assessment and I’m no expert, it’s more than just a quality of life issue that has residents and officials concerned. It’s also simple economics effecting the housing markets and tax base. I know I hear the argument, the helicopters help create jobs. But a few pilots from Teterboro or Rockaway are not exactly a boom to local business. The bottom line is hundreds of residents are filing for tax reductions due to the constant thunder resulting in an alleged decrease of property values. So wait, let me see if I get this right … a few pilot jobs in New Jersey versus a decreasing tax base here in the Hamptons? Anyway, one way to help stop this register a complaint. Go to the towns web site next time your house is being buzzed and you feel like you’re living through you’re own personal “Airport ’75.” File a complaint here at the noise complaint website and have your voice heard (hopefully over the engine and blade noise).
Activist against the airport noise are not trying to ban the traffic all together but rather limiting the hours of the facility. Learn more from the Quiet Skies Coalition! I mean really, LAX closes at 11 pm but East Hampton Airport stays open all night?! A 24 Hour airport really?! We don’t even have a shoe repair, doggie daycare, good Mexican restaurant but we’re the town that never sleeps according to the airport! Besides everyone who saw Jaws 2 knows helicopters and beaches don’t mix!
Well it’s been a few weeks since I sat down and blogged but I’m back after a brief hiatus. It was the end of the summer here and I just needed some time to breathe and enjoy the east end. The crazy crowds are gone and the planes, helicopters and sea planes have gone south for the winter. Speaking of the air traffic. A group of local citizens are calling themselves the “QUIET SKIES COALITION.” Their mission is to do something about the ever increasing air traffic on the east end. According the group summer traffic at East Hampton Airport is about the same as Islip! Which according to the group is all the more absurd because it’s a “FAA UNCONTROLLED AIRPORT” subject to no local regulation. Considering the volume they have, they believe it’s a disaster waiting to happen or at the very least get worse. There is also some concern about the property values of those who lie in the path of these planes and Sikorsky helicopters. Anyway, if you want more information about the Quiet Skies Coalition you can e mail them at info@quietskiescoalition.org or visit the website www.quietskiescoalition.org.
Meanwhile, most of this summer I have avoided the new Mexican restaurant Agave in Bridgehampton. Well I’ve since gone their twice and I will say the talk about it is a little unfair. While it’s not Rosa Mexicana, it is a definite improvement over the food at Blue Parrot. The chips were freshly fried, the service friendly and responsive. I’ve tried the enchiladas and the fajitas at Agave and I’ll say both were pretty good. The chicken fajitas were my personal favorite and were perfectly done with a generous portion. So while I can’t say you should run to Agave, I will say if you want a casual night out with some good Mexican food head there and just enjoy it for what it is… a decent night out in the Hamptons.