In the News: Helicopter Ban Proposed Again

••• “Helicopter tours would be banned in the five boroughs under a controversial bill re-introduced to City Council in the wake of last month’s deadly East River crash, chopper proponents said Monday. Brooklyn Councilman Carlos Menchaca’s legislation—which was introduced three years ago and voted down—would prohibit sightseeing helicopters from taking off and landing at heliports owned by the city if they break ‘stage 3 noise limits.’ And industry insiders say there’s no way for tour choppers to meet those noise requirements—and are pleading with lawmakers not to pass the bill.” And spending a lot of money to persuade them, no doubt, just like last time. “Menchaca introduced the bill along with Manhattan Councilwomen Helen Rosenthal and Margaret Chin.” Hold firm, Chin! —New York Post

••• Chef Paul Liebrandt, who cooked so memorably at Corton (the restaurant that preceded Bâtard), is heading the kitchen at Racines NY through May. Starting next Monday, he “will offer three- and five-course menus with optional wine pairings by Pascaline Lepeltier, a master sommelier, and Arnaud Tronche, partners in the restaurant. —New York Times

••• “Downtown Manhattan was the center of the art world in the early ’80s, but 15 years on, most of the artists and galleries had left. These are the people who stayed.” The T Magazine group photo is neat, but the 15 artists are hardly the only ones to have remained in the area.

••• Restaurant-reservation app “Resy will launch a new loyalty program, Resy Select, in late April. Perks will include exclusive booking windows at popular restaurants, early dibs on event tickets, wait-list priority, and experiential events like meeting your pasta idol. It’ll be invitation-only and in beta mode when it launches, but will expand down the line.” One of the main reasons we cook dinner more, rather than going out, is because getting reservations is just too much hassle. —Grub Street

••• Rivington Tattoo “will start inking customers later this month in a specially designed display” at the Saks Fifth Avenue in Brookfield Place. “The tattoo shop is part of Saks’s new concept floor, The Downtown Wellery, which will feature celebrity colorist Joel Warren of The Salon Project.” —New York Post

 

3 Comments

  1. Not sure which are more annoying: helicopters buzzing the FiDi or idling tour buses scattered all throughout downtown.

    The city can have them if they actually policed them properly or taxed them for the use of city resources / nuisance. But instead, politicians would rather fill their pockets with kickbacks.

    At least those tour buses service a lot more people.

  2. Speaking of helicopters why are there helicopters flying very low and fast through Tribeca tonight? I live on the 20th floor of a building in BPC and have seen at least 5 helicopters at or below our floor level between BPC and Citigroup. Any ideas?

  3. Same over here at 50 Murray. It’s like they are buzzing the tower in Top Gun. At least one of them looked like a BlackHawk and was flying barely 20 stories high.