On March 14, I attended the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Area Airspace Redesign Project public input meeting at Hofstra University. The Airspace Redesign Project Manager stated that there will be no substantial changes to the JFK runway approaches within a 10 mile radius of the airport. Accordingly, the communities under these runway approaches, including New Hyde Park, must reaffirm the FAA's commitment to the New York TRACON (Air Traffic Controllers) Standard Operating Procedures and the JFK Tower Agreement.

Specifically, aircraft landing at JFK using runway 22 left or runway 22 right, can fly directly over New Hyde Park from 2 to 10 p.m. when there is inclement weather, the wind is out of the south and the pilot cannot clearly see the ground. Aircraft landing at JFK using runway 22 left or runway 22 right, can fly to the east of New Hyde Park, over Garden City, from 2 to 10 p.m. when the weather is good, the wind is out of the south, and the pilot can clearly see the ground. Landing flyovers of New Hyde Park and Garden City can take place at other times of the day and night, when there is excessive air traffic and weather delays throughout the national airspace system, as an absolute last resort.

This JFK tower agreement procedure was, for over three decades, an equitable distribution of aircraft landing at JFK using runway 22 left or runway 22 right. New Hyde Park and Floral Park tolerate aircraft using the bad weather glide path approach and Garden City and Stewart Manor tolerate aircraft using the good weather glide path approach. No one is overburdened with aircraft noise for extended periods of time.

Lately, this procedure has been ignored and abused under the guise of JFK runway reconstruction. On more than a few occasions, New Hyde Park has received constant direct aircraft flyovers for hours and days on end, even when the weather and visibility were crystal clear. We need to correct this situation before some bureaucrat gets the idea that the residents of New Hyde Park are somehow less in need of peace and quiet from time to time than others.