THE BATTLE FOR WEST 30TH


An Airbus


ACH160 arrives at the West 30th


Street Heliport. The facility can handle several medium- sized aircraft


simultaneously. (VAI/Dan Sweet)


assault on this facility to simply get rid of it, as opposed to limiting operations or taxing this or taxing that. That’s what made this dramati- cally different and critical,” Rousseau says. Left unchecked, the original bill language was “the first true, legitimate threat to KJRA in 20 years,” he says. “It got our attention.” The bill came less than a year after ecoprotest


group Extinction Rebellion (XR) unsuccessfully tried to forcibly shut down KJRA on Sep. 13, 2023, leading to multiple arrests. Groups such as XR aren’t interested in negotiating with the rotorcraft industry, which they characterize as “pestilence.” Nor can they be persuaded of the promise of clean, quiet transportation by electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. XR spokesperson Jack Baldwin says eVTOLs would be “simply electrifying wasteful, unnecessary transportation.” Fortunately, New York State legislators seem


more open to compromise. Rousseau says VAI’s outreach to members—the one that generated 96,000 emails—was “short, sweet, and to the point” about the consequences of closing KJRA: direct and indirect job losses, reduced access for first responders and helicopter air ambulance transport, and slowed advancement of advanced


Working from an office located between the landing


areas, Air Pegasus heliport supervisor Richard Hargrove handles the phones, the radio, and of course, the paperwork for the flights at the heliport. (VAI/Dan Sweet)


34 POWER UP SEP 2024


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76