Ads For Helicopter Tours, Charters To Vineyards Spark Outrage

NORTH FORK, NY — With the kickoff of the summer season on the North Fork, along with the smell of sweet flowers and barbecues, the warmth of sunshine and soft breezes, beach days and balmy nights comes the inevitable — the sound of seaplanes and helicopters overhead that residents have long said is shattering their quality of life.

And now, new ads for helicopter tours and charters to Riverhead and North Fork wineries have local officials seeing red.

On Tuesday, Southold Town Councilman Bob Ghosio, liaison to the town's helicopter noise steering committee, reminded that the town filed a petition against the Federal Aviation Administration regarding a decision to extend the North Shore helicopter route through 2020 that the town believes is in violation of federal law; the FAA later dismissed that petition.

Rep. Lee Zeldin, Ghosio said, is in staunch support of quiet skies over the East End.

In April, Zeldin introduced an amendment cosponsored by Reps. Grace Meng Thomas Suozzi to require the FAA to reassess the North Shore Helicopter Route to address the noise impact on affected communities, improve altitude enforcement, and consider alternative routes, including an all water route over the Atlantic Ocean.

The amendment passed by a vote of 393 to 13 in the House.

“Summer after summer, North Fork residents’ quality of life has suffered due to the persistent issue of helicopter noise on the East End. The FAA and Department of Transportation have sole jurisdiction over the aircraft routes that have impacted these communities, but from the route’s planning to its continued use, they have continued to flat out ignore the residents directly affected," Zeldin said.

New town legislation

Ghosio said the town board is working to create a code that addresses helicopter and sea plane landings on the North Fork; a preliminary draft has been crafted. By the end of the week, Ghosio said he and the helicopter noise steering committee and representatives from the local helicopter businesses and pilots will meet to go over the draft, which will hopefully be ready for town board review in two weeks. "We want to finish this draft and get to something cohesive, defensible, and balanced out," Ghosio said.

Helicopter tours, charters to North Fork vineyards spark outrage

Teresa McCaskie, chair of the Southold helicopter noise steering committee, said there are "great concerns" about how the industry is expanding, including an influx of seaplanes.

Some in the aircraft industry are now morphing into "management type businesses," McCaskie said, managing an inventory of seaplanes belonging to others.

While most of the seaplane and helicopter businesses have traditionally "catered to the Hamptons crowd," McCaskie said, "If you're feeling fancy you can charter a plane to the North Fork for $4,500." The plane seats nine so friends can share the costs and amazing views, according to ads for the service, she said. "Whose houses do you think they are going to fly over?" She added, "They're coming."

Also on the horizon are floating pontoons, McCaskie said.

What the town can do, she said, is to limit what days the helicopters and seaplanes can fly, and what types are used.

As a town, she said, legislation could be implemented so only Stage 3 helicopters, the most quiet, are utilized.

One way operators are able to still schedule rides, she said, is by tweaking the language. While "tours" are not allowed, some companies change that word to "charter," she said.

Paumanok Vineyard in Jamesport, she said, is using the word "charter."

An ad for Helicopter Charter NYC says that a "Paumanok Vineyards Helicopter Excursion" is available from New York City, with a three hour wine tasting and vineyard tour. "Land privately by helicopter on the property and take a guided tour from owners Charles and Ursula Massoud or winemaker Kareem Massoud through the century-old facilities," the ad said.

When asked about the ad on Tuesday, Erica Fedison, tasting room staffer, said, "It's an untrue advertisement." She said to her knowledge, neither Paumanok nor any of the North Fork wineries have any type "of helicopter attractions, like this place is advertising."

Paumanok winemaker Kareem Massoud said there were no helicopters bringing patrons to the winery for tours. "We spoke to them three years ago but nothing ever came of it. So I don't know where it came from all of a sudden. But the bottom line is we're not accepting any kind of helicopter tours at all." There are "no plans in the future" for helicopters, he said.

When the number for Helicopter Charter USA was called, a woman who answered the phone said "private charters" are offered to Paumanok daily. For further information and media comment, she asked that an email be sent to Zip Aviation; an email was not immediately returned.

Riverhead Town Councilwoman Catherine Kent, liaison to the Riverhead Town helicopter noise task force, said embers of the task force were concerned about a promotion that was being circulated in reference to helicopter rides to Paumanok Vineyard.

"This was a hoax and Charles and Ursula Massoud had nothing to do with it. I believe the Massouds reached out to Zip Aviation and asked them to remove the listing. This promotion was completely false. Helicopters are not allowed to land in the Town of Riverhead unless it’s an airport," she said.

Kent added: "Under the renumbered town code, 301-233, “'No airport facility or accessory building, structure or use shall be constructed, expanded, installed, used, maintained, arranged or designed to be used, erected, reconstructed or altered in any use district except when authorized by special permit from the town board.' Agriculture and agritainment are important in our town but we would not be supportive of helicopters landing at any of the vineyards and it would be a violation of our code."

Another ad that's sparked some concern is for a "North Fork Vineyard Tour" by Wings Air Helicopters. Guests, the ad said, can choose between a multi-vineyard tour, or one at Castello di Borghese: "The North Fork Vineyard Tour at Castello di Borghese Vineyard begins with a private helicopter flight from Manhattan to Mattituck Airport," the ad said. "Guests then enjoy a 2-3 hour experience complete with a tour of the vineyard and the on-site art gallery. A fully catered, 3-course lunch is included, paired with Castello di Borghese wines. After lunch guests return to Manhattan by helicopter."

When asked about that tour by phone, a staffer at Borghese said they had not heard of any advertisement for a helicopter tour. A request for comment from the vineyard's owners was not immediately returned.

A request for information from Wings Air Helicopters was answered by text: "A roundtrip helicopter flight from NYC starts at $5,600," the response said. "Unfortunately we are no longer permitted to land on the Vineyard property due to local ordinances, so we would have to use a small local airport."

The response added that a catered lunch could be arranged at Borghese for about $1,200 for four.

When asked about the helicopter tours allegedly landing at Mattituck Airport, Paul Pawlowski, speaking for the owners of the airport, said, "I had no knowledge of that until today. I spoke with owner and asked them to remove Mattituck airport from that as we have no part in any tours. They agreed to remove it. They actually said that over the years they have not had any wine tours through Mattituck Airport."

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said Pawlowski was quick to tell the organizer of helicopter wine tasting event last year that no helicopter tours could land at the airport. "He knew nothing about this," he said on Tuesday.

McCaskie said that while that's true, many might not know the airport is private as it's listed as public on a popular website.

Of the advertisements for vineyard tours and charters, Russell said: "This seems to be an effort by out-of-town helicopter operators to bring the problems of the South Fork to the North Fork. Paul has responded quickly in the past when similar services were offered and I am grateful for his swift action today."

Russell added: "People have accused me in the past of being closed-minded to new trends. When it comes to trends like this, I’m guilty as charged. Any business, whether a winery or not, that would participate in such excursions with helicopter companies shows a complete lack of respect for their community. Their arrogance shouldn't be ignored and they are not worthy of community support in any way."

The rash of new interest in vineyard helicopter tours or charters has some residents outraged.

"Helicopter noise and pollution on a beautiful vineyard. We should be trying to save the East End and not harming our environment more," said Riverhead resident John Cullen. "I hope this never happens. They tried something like it last year and it never landed. The noise and pollution from any helicopter is more then enough for any residential area. Riverhead already has enough helicopter traffic over the town heading to and from the South Fork — why would they want this and who is allowing such a bad idea?"

Riverhead Town Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith did not respond to a request for comment.

McCaskie maintains that the other businesses in town do not benefit from advertised winery tours or charters; each trip, she added, constitutes four helicopter flights, as the helicopters are not allowed to stay while guests are at the event.

McCaskie pointed to an uptick in air traffic in general, with helicopters bringing patients to hospitals and landing at places such as Strawberry Field.

The North Fork is seen as a new destination for helicopters and seaplanes, she said. "They're coming. They're at our doors."

It's not the first time the idea of a helicopter landing at a vineyard has sparked contention: In October, 2017, after an outpouring of public protest, the owner of a North Fork winery announced that he pulled the plug on an upcoming helicopter wine tasting event at his vineyard.

Patch file photo of a helicopter over the East End from a prior story about helicopter noise.