Northeast Queens Leaders Call for Answers on Airplane Noise

Northeast Queens leaders and residents said they are still waiting for answers about a that has been bothering northeast Queens denizens.

State Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside, recently called on the Federal Aviation Administration to meet with him to discuss the flight pattern, which has been aggravating residents along Bell Boulevard, Northern Boulevard, 43rd Avenue and sections of Douglaston.

But David Fischer, a spokesman for state Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, said he was told by the FAA that the Port Authority was handling the matter.

"We've been getting a lot of calls about it," he said. "Planes are flying very low and residents can almost see the windows of the planes. It's also happening very early in the morning, which is driving a lot of people crazy."

Braunstein has written to both the FAA and Port Authority on the matter.

Susan Seinfeld, district manager of , said the board was told that the flight pattern was in a six-month trial period, but it was unclear when it began or would end.

She said CB 11 has been receiving at least one complaint per day about noise resulting from the new flight pattern.

"We're hearing from people who are saying it's really bad," CB 11 Chairman Jerry Iannece said. "It's substantially downgrading the quality of life for some residences in Douglaston, Bayside and Flushing."

Sylvia Johnson, a Bay Terrace resident, said the frequency of the flights over her home was what bothered her most.

"It's a constant flow of traffic," she said. "It's annoying that this is happening over a densely populated neighborhood. There are flights going over every few minutes."