Whither the Fight for Heliports?

The helicopter industry may be booming, with many segments appearing to be recession-proof, but it's not getting any easier to land our aircraft. Take the New York City market. Operators there are operating under new restrictions that they accepted to fend off political and community over flights between Manhattan and the Hamptons beach resort communities on eastern Long Island. The West 30th Street heliport is being pushed from its location in a park along the Hudson River onto a dock moored in the river because of complaints over the noise and smell of its operations. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is getting out of the business of operating the Wall Street Heliport. That may bring improvements to operations there, such as the provision of fuel (which is doesn't now have), but it will deny that facility the political muscle of that bi-state agency. All this pressure comes in one of the birthplaces of the "fly neighborly" approach that the industry has adopted to mitigate complaints against heliport and helicopter operations. For related news