East Hampton Town Airport is either an essential South Fork economic engine or an environmental nightmare destroying the region’s lure, depending upon who’s asked, as the dogfight over the airport’s future hits new heights.
The airport’s proponents recently launched a publicity campaign seeking to convince residents why the facility is key to local businesses’ survival. Critics are abuzz about skyrocketing noise complaints since summer residents are staying into the offseason due to the coronavirus pandemic, bringing extra air traffic with them. Propelling the controversy is soaring speculation that the Town of East Hampton, which owns the airport, could close it down next year — with outrage sure to fly regardless of how the decision lands.
“They’re wrestling with some big decisions in terms of what they’re going to do when they get local control back,” Southampton Town Airport Noise Advisory Committee member Tommy John Schiavoni said of his neighbors to the east.
September is when Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authority requiring the East Hampton town comply with … [more]
