Int. No. 551
By Council Members Restler, Farías, Brewer, Hanif, Avilés, Hudson, Gutiérrez, Marte, Rivera, Krishnan, Abreu, Joseph, Schulman, Nurse, Ossé, De La Rosa, Won, Cabán, Velázquez, Narcisse, Holden, Brannan, Richardson Jordan, Gennaro, Feliz, Paladino and Kagan (in conjunction with the Manhattan and Brooklyn Borough Presidents)
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to prohibiting non-essential helicopters from operating at heliports owned or operated by the city
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Subchapter 2 of chapter 8 of title 22 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 22-827 to read as follows:
§ 22-827. Heliport operations. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
Covered helicopters. The term “covered helicopter” means a rotary-wing aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing. Such term does not include helicopters operated by or on behalf of (i) the United States armed forces, (ii) the fire department, (iii) emergency services, including any air ambulance, (iv) the police department or other law enforcement entity, or (v) a newsgathering organization.
Heliport. The term “heliport” means a designated land area used for helicopter operations and any appurtenant areas, including fueling facilities, terminal buildings and maintenance and repair facilities.
Newsgathering organization. The term “newsgathering organization” means an organization or entity that gathers and reports the news by publishing, broadcasting, or cablecasting articles, commentaries, books, photographs, video, film, or audio by electronic, print, or digital media such as radio, television, newspapers, magazines, wire, books, and the Internet.
b. The commissioner shall require any contracted entity operating, managing or otherwise responsible for a heliport on any property owned by the city of New York to prohibit any covered helicopter from taking off or landing at such heliport, except in an emergency.
§ 3. This local law takes effect 180 days after enactment.
Session 12
ARP
LS # 7048
6/3/2022