BOROUGHWIDE — Thousands of Brooklyn residents were subjected to nonstop noise from hundreds of helicopter flights ferrying wealthy golf fans to the Ryder Cup golf competition on Long Island during the Sept. 26-28 golf weekend — and companies like BLADE and Zip say they plan to expand these types of flights, which bring in roughly $1,250 per seat.
The number of choppers in the air over Brooklyn that weekend was unprecedented — and more resembled a military exercise than a commuter run, with BLADE telling Vertical Magazine the operation was “one of the largest civilian helicopter movements to a sporting event in U.S. history.”
Under siege, however, were Brooklyn residents. The helicopters buzzed over homes from Park Slope to Carroll Gardens and Brooklyn Heights at all hours — with the racket waking locals up as early as 4 a.m. Friday. Making things worse, the aircraft sometimes hovered for as long as 20 minutes over residential neighborhoods before moving on.
More than 70 comments were posted on just one thread of the hyperlocal NextDoor social media platform over that weekend, with neighbors asking if anything could be done. “It’s nonstop and it’s debilitating,” a Park Slope resident wrote.
A Prospect Heights neighbor said they had reported the flights to the Federal Aviation Administration. “It’s ridiculous. The noise doesn’t stop.”
“We all need to call our local representative and councilman en masse to complain. That’s the only way something will be done about this,” a Carroll Gardens resident posted.
A helicopter hovers. Brooklyn Eagle Photo: Don Evans
Brooklyn officials fed up
“Last weekend, our office received dozens of complaints about excessive helicopter noise generated by trips to and from the Ryder Cup golf match on Long Island,” Councilmember Lincoln Restler, who represents areas from Boerum Hill to Greenpoint, told the Brooklyn Eagle.
Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon told constituents on Wednesday that she, too, heard “the relentless helicopter noise” the weekend before last. “These flights aren’t just a nuisance; they create excessive noise, are detrimental to the public’s health and our environment, pollute our air, and cater to the 1% at the expense of everyone else’s quality of life,” she wrote.
Restler and Simon, along with Councilmember Shahana Hanif, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Rep. Dan Goldman, shot off a letter to the New York City Economic Development Corporation and Hudson River Park Trust, which control the city’s helipads, asking them “to take immediate action to ban nonessential helicopter flights that cause excessive and unnecessary noise in our communities.”
City Councilmember Lincoln Restler. Photo: Beth Eisgrau-Heller/Brooklyn Eagle
The officials said flight radar showed the helicopters were primarily departing from the Downtown Manhattan and West 30th Street Heliports. Promotional material on the Bell aircraft company’s website, however, said that departures took place “from multiple sites in Manhattan and surrounding New York Metro corporate centres.” Bell provided the aircraft to service providers Zip and BLADE. Other aviation companies, including HeliFlite, participated in the operation.
While Brooklyn communities have been suffering the impacts of nonessential helicopter flights for more than a decade, the Ryder Cup brought in a new level of misery, the electeds noted.
“With the expansion of chartered helicopter flights costing $1,250 per seat (the cost of a seat on BLADE from Manhattan to the Ryder Cup), our constituents are bearing the impacts in order to shorten the commutes of a select few, extremely wealthy people,” the pols wrote.
“The helicopters were flying so low that community members could see the passengers taking selfies, with some hovering for 20-plus minutes above residential buildings, making a quick commuter trip into a tourist flight which are only supposed to fly over water,” the officials added, pointing out that the companies were breaking regulations and ruining residents’ quality of life solely for the benefit of the ultra-rich.
Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon. Photo courtesy of Jo Anne Simon
‘Record breaking op’ at the expense of the little people
Following the golf game (during which American fans shocked the golfing world with their crude and shameful behavior, including yelling obscenities and throwing a beer can at the wife of a European golfer), BLADE and Zip crowed that the operation broke all records.
BLADE transported roughly 3,000 passengers between three luxury “Blade Lounges” in Manhattan and surrounding areas, the BLADE Vertiport at Bethpage and neighboring Republic Airport, Vertical Magazine reported. BLADE set up 15 landing zones onsite at Bethpage Red, in addition to an amphibious seaplane landing zone at Republic Airport.
Zip Aviation issued a statement following the golf tournament saying that the company “made aviation history at the 2025 Ryder Cup, executing a record-breaking helicopter operation that set a new benchmark for event airlift logistics. Over the course of the championship at Bethpage Black, Zip Aviation conducted more than 300 flights carrying over 2,000 passengers, marking a historic milestone in both scale and precision for the aviation industry.”
SUNSET PARK — “As a resident of Marine Park, one of the great surprises I found biking around Industry City and visiting Japan Village was to discover Bush Terminal Park. I continue to be amazed at the serene hideaways that the city offers in some of the busiest places — and, still, with an iconic view.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — ‘A miracle that no one was killed …’ That’s what neighbors are saying about the collapse of the Hotel St. George marquee. Shown in this photograph are workmen beginning the removal and repair of the historic, old neon sign at the corner, referencing a relic of Brooklyn Heights’ past: the St. George Hotel.
ATLANTIC AVENUE — Exhausted shopper with cluster of bags and goods from mall at Boerum Place stops to look at huge construction site across the street. “Is that REALLY going to be a jail??” Her male companion is reassuring, “Nothing like Rikers … this is 21st Century.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Overheard in line at one of most popular pastry outlets on Montague Street: “Hope I can get them into a camp …” A mother with two pre-schoolers in tow was showing a friend the Dodge Y flyer for Healthy Kids Day on Saturday, April 18.
