(Editor's Note: The Western Garden City Property Owners' Association (WPOA) submitted the following.)

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has made a determination as to the plan they will pursue to increase air traffic and reduce delays in the five-state area of New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. An informational meeting was conducted at the Marriott Hotel, 102-05 Ditmars Blvd., East Elmhurst, NY on April 23. This meeting explained the measures they intend to use to mitigate noise at the various airports impacted by the changes.

For those of you interested in learning more, the full report is posted on the Internet at www.faa.gov/nynjphl_airspace_redesign.

All residents are encouraged to visit www.4.passur.com/jfk.html to view and identify the identity, altitude, origin, aircraft type and glide path used for any flight within the past three months. In this way, precise information can be retrieved and given to the FAA at (718) 955-5755 or to the Port Authority 747-1417 when lodging a complaint. It is suggested that when reporting planes in the vicinity of Garden City, aircraft below 1,200 feet in altitude or flights observed between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. should be reported only after verification on the web. When lodging a complaint, include the flight number, carrier code or name, altitude recorded, time and other pertinent information, as available such as origin code and perceived noise level.

We understand that, at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), only data and statistics relevant to departures and, to a minor extent, arrivals on runway 31 and 13 were addressed. It was also stated that these two runways handle the majority of traffic at JFK. It is further alleged that there are no anticipated changes in approach or departure guidance procedures for runways 22 L/R at JFK or for runways 13/31 or 22/4 at LaGuardia airport and, therefore, there is no need to consider them in the DEIS.

The villages of Floral Park, New Hyde Park, Garden City, Franklin Square and Elmont are directly under the flight path of arrivals on JFK runways 22 L/R. However, we can find no reference to any data or statistics regarding the additional number of flights or their interval, which will result from any of the alternative plans presented in this DEIS. Nor was there any comment on the consequences of a proposed action because there are no anticipated changes in local approaches. Such a position is not acceptable to us who will be severely impacted but excluded from consideration by such dismissal. After all, the entire purpose of the redesign project is to increase throughput at all the airports in the region. Thus JFK runways 22 L/R will be included in any increase in arrivals and departures. Approach altitudes and routing alternative must be addressed in any plan to increase throughput on JFK or LaGuardia runways.

Therefore, we believe that this Draft Environmental Impact Statement must be reconsidered and modified. All relevant information about any changes in activity on JFK runways 22 L/R, including the increased noise from more flights at closer intervals that would ensue from adoption of any of the alternative proposals, must be calculated into the statement before a final decision is made.