THE BATTLE FOR WEST 30TH
our goal to preserve the heliport,” adds Rousseau. “With our grassroots cam- paign, working closely with the mayor’s office and tapping into the numerous private-sector business interests and VAI members who value the facility, and with the support of our sister orga- nizations and others (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, The Business Council of New York State, Eastern Region Helicopter Council, NBAA, New York Aviation Management Association, and the Partnership for New York City), we succeeded in preventing the imme- diate closure of the heliport.” In the end, the heliport prohibition
was stripped from the legislation, which now also directs the creation of an advisory task force that must include members from the rotorcraft and business communities. The result, Rousseau says, is “a level playing field” and an increased “degree of fairness” for the rotorcraft community. “We really struck a chord. It was a
very successful effort.” VAI’s Clark assigns much of the
success of the campaign to save the heliport to the passion of a VAI membership dedicated to protecting the industry. “When your outreach campaign generates nearly 100,000 messages to legislators, they sit up and take notice.” Clark also credits Rousseau’s efforts
and VAI’s regional advocacy. “This win is a testament to VAI’s regional repre- sentative program. The program we put in place on the West Coast and now on the East Coast is paying dividends and providing our members with a return on their investment.” But ever the realist, Rousseau cau-
tions against complacency in a polit- ical environment rife with continuing threats, including “the burden the new law has placed on all involved to make economic investment in the Hudson
38 POWER UP SEP 2024
River Park a reality while balancing the needs of the industry and others who support the heliport,” he says. “Our work is far from over. We need our membership and industry to under- stand that the investment of their time
and energy moving forward is still vital to what we need to do to gain a lasting positive outcome.” Mark Huber is an aviation journalist with more than two decades of experience in the vertical flight industry.
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