East Hampton Town Appeals Injunction on Its Helicopter Law
Though a court found last month that East Hampton Town was within its rights when the town board voted to impose curfews on the flights of noisy aircraft into and out of the municipal East Hampton Airport, the court imposed an injunction that blocks the town’s enforcement of a one-round-trip-per-week law. Now, the town is fighting for the injunction to be lifted.
The law adopted in April would limit noisy aircraft—namely, loud helicopters—to one trip to the Hamptons per week. The law would put a stop to helicopters that shuttle passengers between Manhattan and East Hampton all weekend long.
While town officials were happy their two curfew laws were allowed to proceed—enforcement began July 2—East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell won’t be satisfied until the round-trip rule also gets the greenlight.
“We believe all three laws are lawful and necessary to protect the quality of life on the East End,” Cantwell stated in a press release Wednesday. “These three laws are the result of careful, thoughtful, and transparent balancing by the Town Board. We are hopeful that the Court of Appeals will recognize that all three laws are essential to address the problem of excessive aircraft noise.”
The town has retained Kathleen M. Sullivan of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, a preeminent appellate attorney, to assist the town’s airport counsel, Kaplan Kirsch Rockwell, LLP, in this appeal.