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In this 2011 photo, a Delta Connection regional jet taxis at Kennedy...

In this 2011 photo, a Delta Connection regional jet taxis at Kennedy Airport as a JetBlue plane takes off. Credit: Craig Ruttle

The Town of Hempstead is suing the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, asking a judge to require the agency to update maps of noise exposure from overhead flights over Long Island into Kennedy Airport, in an effort to document and reduce the noise impact.

The lawsuit, led by the town and three residents, was filed Friday against the Port Authority and Executive Director Rick Cotton in Nassau Supreme Court. It asks for the Port Authority to update noise exposure maps, particularly for flights into Kennedy’s Runway 22L, the primary runway where planes have to fly in at lower altitudes due to cross-traffic. 

Air traffic from the runway has spiked since 2022, and the current noise exposure maps don't reflect the actual air traffic over homes and businesses in Hempstead, the suit says. The current maps only use modeling of projected flight paths and exclude thousands of properties, except for a small area of Valley Stream, according to the suit.

The Port Authority said in 2022 it planned to update noise maps, following the COVID-19 pandemic when air traffic fell under 150,000 flights, according to the suit.

"The Town, Individual Petitioners and Town’s residents have been bombarded with low flying planes only 500-2,000 feet in altitude traversing over their properties to ultimately land at JFK," the town’s lawsuit states. "Over 297,000 of those low flying planes ultimately landed on JFK Runways 22 L/R since 2022 (once COVID subsided), with the same rate continuing in 2025. Never before have the Flight Paths to Runway 22 L/R been used in this manner."

Port Authority officials said in a statement Monday they do not comment on pending litigation.

Town officials have said air traffic over some neighborhoods has increased to every 90 seconds in communities including Valley Stream, Elmont and Floral Park.

Hempstead Town officials said there were 388,000 noise complaints filed last year associated with air traffic at Kennedy and about 45% of flights exceeded noise levels of 75 decibels. A majority of the complaints came from Valley Stream, Elmont, New Hyde Park, Floral Park, Lynbrook and Garden City, according to the town.

By comparison, the town said there were 142,149 noise complaints from 2017-2018.

The Port Authority told the town in February the use of Runway 22L was not a "permanent change," according to the lawsuit.

Arrivals to Kennedy’s runways 22L and 22R are forced to land from lower altitudes due to shared airspace with LaGuardia Airport, according to a 2022 Kennedy Airport committee presentation. Air traffic landing at Kennedy must approach at between 2,000 and 3,000 feet, officials said.

The town filed the suit after the District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a petition filed by the towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead in February seeking a court order to require the Federal Aviation Administration to respond to concerns about noise and air pollution in a timely fashion. The towns also asked the FAA to reduce flight paths and conduct an environmental review.

A panel of three federal appellate court judges found that town officials and residents "have not shown that the agency’s delay at this time is so egregious or unreasonable as to warrant the extraordinary remedy" of a court order, the court wrote in declining the town’s case.

Hempstead Town officials said they would request a meeting with the U.S. Department of Transportation to avoid additional litigation.

"The Town of Hempstead is proud to stand against the overwhelming amount of flyovers experienced by residents in the flight path leading to Runway 22L," Hempstead Town Attorney John L. Maccarone said in a statement. "We will continue to explore every avenue in the fight against this unlawful burden on the health and well-being of Town of Hempstead residents."

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