Village Board Addresses Resident Complaints
The Village of Stewart Manor has taken an important step to enhance the quality of life among residents. At the Board of Trustees Meeting on Monday, Nov. 1, the board unanimously passed a resolution authorizing the village to join the Town-Village Aircraft Safety & Noise Abatement Committee (TVASNAC), which monitors aircraft noise over Nassau County municipalities near Ken-nedy Airport.
“In years past, the village would get occasional complaints from residents regarding aircraft noise,” said Stewart Manor Mayor James J. Kelly. As of late, however, those complaints have gotten louder. At the Board of Trustees Meeting in September, Bromleigh Road resident Cristina O’Keeffe questioned whether the village participates in any committees on air traffic and asked the village to look into joining TVASNAC.
After consulting with Kendall Lampkin, executive director of TVASNAC, Mayor Kelly said, “The Board of Trustees feels it is in the best interest of our residents to be a part of this committee.” Stewart Manor joins the ranks of neighboring communities, including Floral Park, New Hyde Park and Garden City, in its participation in the committee, which has been in existence for more than 20 years, Kelly said. “We will be bet-ter informed regarding changes in air traffic patterns and also have a way to express the concerns of our residents,” he added. O’Keeffe will serve as Stewart Manor’s committee representative.
For its part, Floral Park continues to maintain a stalwart presence in the war against aircraft noise. Village Trustee Mary-Grace Tomecki serves as Floral Park’s liaison to TVASNAC, in addition to being Floral Park’s Noise Abatement Officer and Liaison to Floral Park’s Noise Abatement Committee. “I think the upsurge in public regard for air traffic and the noise it generates reflects the increase in operations that Kennedy Airport has experienced in recent years,” Tomecki said.
Conversation-stopping noise emitted from low-flying aircraft over local communities appears to come in waves, according to some residents. “It seems to come in cycles. I notice it more sometimes than others,” said one Stewart Manor resident, who lives on Elton Road. The cyclic nature stems from multiple factors, including construction projects at JFK that cause flights to be rerouted and weather patterns.
With the cooler months approaching, the weather pattern should prove favorable with regard to aircraft noise. “Communities, such as Floral Park, New Hyde Park and Garden City, which have been most vocal in the past months, are located directly under the arriving flight paths for [Kennedy Airport] runways 22L and 22R. These runways are predominantly used for arrivals into Kennedy during the warmer months because their arrival path requires a wind out of the south,” Tomecki said. “Consequently, with the cooler weather approaching, which translates to mean a shift in wind direction, I would expect to see a decline in the use of the 22s and, in turn, a reduction in the number of complaints from these same communities.”
