The fatal helicopter crash that killed six people this week could have been even worse had the aircraft landed on either side of the Hudson — and because of that, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop says limiting tourist flights is a no-brainer.
His counterpart across the river disagrees.
"That is part of the attraction of businesses being in the city, people coming to the city, seeing the city from the air,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams told NBC the day after the crash. “What we must do is make sure it's safe, make sure it's done correctly.”
Fulop, a candidate for New Jersey governor, joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers in New York calling for an end to the flights.
“I think any reasonable person would come to the conclusion that the amount of air traffic over New York City and New Jersey — particularly Jersey City — is problematic,” he told Gothamist Saturday. “It's just a matter of time before somebody else gets hurt.”
Fulop has been standing alongside federal investigators through briefings this week after the crash Thursday that killed all six on board almost made landfall in Jersey City’s Newport section — a densely populated neighborhood of high-rises and hotels where hundreds of thousands of commuters and tourists shuffle between the two cities each day.
The New York City metro area, which includes Jersey City, has had dozens of helicopter crashes since the 1960s, with dozens of fatalities. The crash has reignited the fight over the helicopter traffic which local lawmakers and resident groups like "Stop the Chop" have been arguing against for years.
But the dangers have become less common in recent years, federal data shows, as safety protocols have been updated. A spokesperson for Mayor Adams cautioned against jumping to conclusions before the federal government completes its investigation and said the helicopter tourism industry alone does roughly $78 million in business each year.
Fulop points out the airspace over the region is already crowded by the convergence of three major airports. He said neither state has full jurisdiction over the area where the choppers fly and urged the Federal Aviation Administration to address the issue.
“You can restrict the amount of tourist helicopters coming out of some of the different airports and helipads in New Jersey,” he said when asked if he’d address the matter as governor. “But the reality is that the airspace is controlled by the FAA and we need help from the federal government.”
Due to inaccurate information initially provided by City Hall, this story has been updated to reflect the correct figure for the economic impact of helicopter tourism.
