An airplane flies above an apartment in Flushing, NY, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019.(Photo/Baidi Wang)
An airplane flies above an apartment in Flushing, NY, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019.(Photo/Baidi Wang)
Many residents of Flushing, Queens, dream of having a quiet day under busy flight paths. Is the noise really brought such huge negative influence to Flushing residents?
Tom Chen, 70, sits on his wheelchair in front of his apartmnet on Wednesday, Sept 4, 2019, in Flushing, NY.(Photo/Baidi Wang) |
“I really cannot get used to the noise even I’ve been moving here for over ten years. When I first moved here, my ears were getting uncomfortable,” said Lewei Hong, 50, who is a nursing worker taking care of Tom Chen, 70. “I hope all of those airplanes fall down someday so I don’t have to bear the noise every day.” Chen cannot wait to add his thoughts. He was angry with the noise. Hong disturbed him and told him not to say like that, Chen continued saying: “Airplanes are so annoying.” Hong also added: “We cannot do anything, it’s impossible for the government to move the airports.” |
Hong is right. With the two main airports, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, both locate in Queens, it’s impossible for residents to avoid the noise from skies. Not long ago, Flushing has ranked the third one on the list called “Top 20 neighborhoods with homes for sale or rent in airport noise zones” issued by Localize Labs.
Tom Jiang Liu, 56, a new resident who just moved to Flushing recently. “It’s indeed noisy, but we cannot move out as we just purchased the new house here. And we don’t expect they change the flight paths. As long as the airports are in Queens, airplanes have to fly above the residential areas anyway.”
Dense and busy flights paths cover a big part of skies in Flushing. Most airplanes departure from JFK Airport as well as a lot of airplanes flying in Flushing skies will arrive at LaGuardia Airport. Though Flushing Councilman Peter Koo proposed to divert flight paths from Flushing, residents are still influenced by the noise until now.
Yuping Zhang, 40, a new resident in Flushing, already decided to leave. “I really regret to move here; our family cannot sleep over night. I don’t think it’s useful to talk with the government, so I just leave as early as possible.” Zhang said.
An airplane flies above the Library in Flushing, NY, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019.(Photo/Baidi Wang) |
An airplane flies above the train station in Flushing, NY, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019.(Photo/Baidi Wang) |
Some residents don’t think it’s a big deal. Most of them said they have been getting used to the noise already.
“I don’t think it influence me so much,” said Hai Zhang, 64. He has been living in Flushing for more than ten years. “People need to get used to the environment rather than let the environment get used to human beings.” He said smiling while sitting on a bench in a park, and pointed out again he was able to tolerate the noise.
Zara Khan, 14, a new student at a high school. She is swinging in a park while being asked her thoughts of noise issue. “It goes away in like 2 minutes, for maybe 30 minutes that might be distraction.” She didn’t express any her personal concerns at all. “It doesn’t bother me that much, but like, I admire they’re really noisy sometime. It kind of disturbs everyday life sometimes, but for me, not really.”