Tuesday, August 23, 2022

1st world problem, the East Hamptons (New York's Long Island escape from the city of Manhattan) are fed up with the summer's private airplanes landing in their public airport... you know, like airplanes do, since that airport was built... before the rich bought the properties around it, then complained about airplane noise

Hamptons residents (beach houses) say that the noise from a boom in private air travel is intolerable. This summer, a years-long battle came to a head when the airport was slated for closure on May 17 in order to be taken private by the town, which would allow for control over operations. The airport has been temporarily held open and remains public without restrictions — following an emergency restraining order and pending a judge’s ruling.

 Between May and September each year, the population of East Hampton explodes from about 22,000 to an estimated 90,000. Queues in grocery stores stretch as the “summer people” arrive to enjoy pristine beaches, cooler temperatures and the absence of the city’s hot-trash smell.

While the battle has been raging over East Hampton airport for years, scrutiny intensified during the pandemic as city dwellers fled to their luxury beachside boltholes to weather the storm.

The number of complaints had already risen,  from 19,000 in 2015 to to 47,000 in 2019, mostly from properties on the flight path.

The airport remaining open say it is vital for the local community to have access to an airport for medical evacuations, and closing East Hampton would only displace traffic to other airports, then cause car traffic to dramatically increase.

The town of East Hampton has been hit with several lawsuits over its attempt to shut the airport, and the battle has been heated. (“I’ve never seen a case with more motions,” said one aviation lawyer involved in the airport dispute.) 

“Eighty per cent of the town wants the airport to stay open, with restrictions on things like schedules,” says Andy Sabin, a pro-airport Hamptons resident and plaintiff in one of the lawsuits against the town.

https://www.ft.com/content/29233c63-745a-415f-8422-ab991a562efb

So, rich beach house dwellers (cry me a river) are pissed that they must listen to airplanes and helicopters deliver summer and weekend only rich beach house dwellers. Yeah, that's something I find funny, and want to share. There ain't no blue collar pipe fitters, walmart workers, grades school teachers, or uber drivers living in beach houses in the East Hamptons. 

3 comments:

  1. I have never seen a more clear example of a first world problem.
    Rich people pissed because richer people fly their planes and helicopters over their beach mansions!
    Not a problem that I will have in the foreseeable future!

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  2. ....ain't no blue collar pipe fitters, walmart workers, grades school teachers, or uber drivers living in beach houses.....They aren't missing much. You should see the marinas in the summer, just as busy but for the most part on the north side. We get a large influx up here in Maine as well, but we have much more space.

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  3. I don't remember where, but I recently read that some of the rich women who live around NYC are getting Botox injections into their bladders so they can sit longer in the traffic jams on the way to the Hamptons, without having to stop to use the bathroom. As Matias said, definitely a first world problem.

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