Hamptons helicopters draw rich, complaints

EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. — When Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie visited the Hamptons last summer to rub elbows with Christie Brinkley, Ellen Barkin and Jimmy Buffett, they arrived by helicopter.

When Wall Street power brokers wrap up merger deals on a Friday night, many dart to a heliport for the quick trip to Long Island's eastern tip.

Because of the speed and convenience helicopters offer, a growing number of those who can afford to are taking choppers to Long Island's summer playground for the rich and famous. But the trend has its detractors, who complain the racket the choppers make is affecting the quality of life in the area.

Some liken Friday afternoons in the Hamptons to the helicopter-attack scene in "Apocalypse Now," with a swarm of Sikorskys and Bells arriving from the city.

"It's the easiest way to get in and out of New York on the weekend," said retired investment banker Peter Wadsworth, a member of the East Hampton Airport Noise Abatement Advisory Committee. "If I was still working on Wall Street, I'd be doing it too."

Wadsworth said he became annoyed by the staccato thump-thump-thump of helicopter blades while sitting in his hot tub years ago.

Money seems to be no obstacle, with one-way rates ranging from about $700 a person to several thousand dollars for charter flights. Time for these folks is more important than money, especially when a road trip from Manhattan to East Hampton can take four hours in traffic. A helicopter flight takes about 45 minutes.

But complaints about the noise have gotten so loud and numerous that government officials stepped in with a plan to alter the flight paths to reduce the chopper clatter.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., helped broker an agreement with the Eastern Region Helicopter Council to establish new voluntary routes and altitude standards to keep the noise down to and from the Hamptons, a confederation of villages and hamlets stretching 40 miles along Long Island's south shore.

Because the new flight plans are voluntary Schumer announced hotline numbers for citizens to file complaints. Rep. Timothy Bishop, whose congressional district includes eastern Long Island, said that if voluntary solutions don't work, he will consider legislation mandating action.