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WPCNR AIRPORT BLUES NEWS & COMMENT, By John F. Bailey. December 13, 2025:

I can now confirm helicopters fly over White Plains–LOTS OF THEM–  now that a person posting on www.citizenstobeheard.com wrote about on December 11

They fly over mine regularly.

Choppers routinely fly over Havilands Manor at varying altitudes and buzz loudly, very loudly on a southwesterly flight path.

The flight paths  so many choppers follow contribute to devaluation of neighborhood ambience and disregard for inhabitants’ lives and safety who are living in the cluster of neighborhoods below the choppers’ flight paths.

If a chopper loses controlled fligh, they drop straight down and  worse explode–it is a daily threat tolerated by the county and THE FAA.

I believe they should have higher altitudes dictated for helicopters and routes over parks westward or service roads on either side of 287.

Everybody who hears looks up  knows the helicopters are routine nuisances but in reality they are a threat to the homes they fly over . They drop when they stop in mid-air and have no glide control to pick a landing. Witness the crash of NYC traffic chopper reporter, Frank McDermott.

i remember vividly when WOR RADIO 710 traffic helicopter pilot Frank McDermott’s traffic copter he was piloting  crashed killing him on a day when he was flying in place of Fred Feldman, pioneer of traffic reporting from the air.

The daily helicopter flights over White Plains like clockwork are not wise flight paths. Airplanes can glide into emergency landings, helicopters are dead in the air when the rotoblade stops and down they go

This is how the New York Times reported the accident:

A helicopter operated by radio station WOR as a traffic spotter crashed into the roof of a garden apartment in Queens yesterday evening, killing its pilot, Frank McDermott, and touching off a raging fire. The accident that killed Mr. McDermott, the relief pilot for Fred Feldman, the radio station’s regular flying traffic reporter, apparently took place seconds after the 37-year-old pilot-broadcaster went on the air for a one-minute account of traffic conditions, at 5:27 P.M. It was reported that shortly before the crash Mr. McDermott had informed station personnel that he was having difficulty handling the helicopter in gusty winds.

Seconds before he went off the air, Mr. McDermott was reporting to John Scott on a program called Radio New York that traffic was heavy on the Van Wyck Expressway. Then he was heard to say, “You got it, John.” Apparently he started to say something else, but it was not clearly audible. Then there was silence. Informed of the death of Mr. McDermott, whom he had hired, Mr. Feldman said: “I wish to hell it had been me. He’s got a wife and two kids. I feel the way I did about some friends in the service who got it.”

At least 10 other pilots and broadcasters had died in previous crashes of helicopter traffic spotters.

Although ambulances and rescue units converged on the scene of the fuel-fed three alarm fire touched off by yesterday’s crash, only on relatively minor injury, to a 12 year-old boy, was reported in addition to the death of Mr. McDermott. The boy. Timothy White tripped, breaking an elbow as he ran from his apartment just after the Bell 47G2 helicopter plunged into 20-61 20th Street.

A teen-aged boy said he was on his way home when he saw the helicopter descending. said “It was flipping over,’ Nelson Castro, 14, of 20-41 18th Street, Astoria. Making circles with his hands, he said “The thing was going like this The propeller was broken.”

NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: THE CAUSE WAS NOT PILOT ERROR BUT SERVICE MAINTENANCE ERROR ON ROTOR BLADE

Federal investigators studying the crash of the helicopter said that sparks were seen coming from the tail of the copter before it plunged into the building.   “But we have no indication at the moment that the helicopter began to break up in flight,” said George Van Epps, director of the Eastern Region office of the National Transportation Safety Board.

The NTSB concluded that probable cause of the accident was that maintenance personnel having overtorqued (TIGHTENED) a delta hinge bolt in the tail rotor, changed the pitch change rod bearings controlling ascent and descent angles to fail.

WPCNR comment: This apparent error that cost McDermott his life indicates how sensitive to accident helicopters are due to the slightest mechanical malfunction.  When I hear a particularly obnoxiously loud helicopter overhead, I look up  because the aircraft is so low. And could malfunction  straightdown.

For this reason alone they  should not fly over heavy  populated residential housing areas, particularly at low altitude which leaves no margin for error. There is a long history of helicopter crashes in the New York Metropolitan area.

Westchester County in its management of the airport the last 6 years has talked a lot about airport noise, and yet has not listened to professional pilots who have advised after extensive examination of radar records of the approach and departure of flights over  a number of recenty years advised strongly that take-offs and landings if routed from the west in and out would  curtail flight noise of any aircraft taking off or landing from or into the West.

The county since the exhaustive study by two pilots who know something about aviation, the county has not approached the FAA for permission to even allow more flights into and out of Westchester County in the West to Easy or East to West direction.

This laissez fair attitude  County politicians paying lipservice to residents’ complaints about noise  and installing noise monitors and not doing anything positive is particularly typical of politicians.

But it is also negligent, continuing to allow recent increase in helicopter traffic over residential neighborhoods and of course cities.  The evidence is there that helicopters are flying too low. Do air traffic controllers after the choppers depart the airport continue to monitor them? It is a good question. They should. More to the point, new rules and flight tracks should route helicopters along major highways through forested areas…or service road areas or down the Hudson River not cross country.

The first helicopter crash in an any neighborhood of homes anywhere in the county, will find  the County Executive holding the usual “Our hearts go out to the families who lost their loved ones in this tragedy” message and the first question from a newsperson will be :

“Why was helicopter flying at the altitude over  that neighborhood with side to side houses?”

The answer is the County did not ask the FAA for a change in routing suggested by pilots years ago. Major negligence.

iF the county had pursued this with the FAA, and the FAA refused the county would not be to blame.

But the County has not done that.

In fact the county now wants to build a new Westchester County Airport Terminal. But they also need a longer wider runway to accommodate international jumbo aircraft which businesses want to be able to do. THEY SHOULD ALSO ASK FOR A HOTEL SITE ON THE SITE WITH UNDERGROUND PARKING.

Instead the county continues to appease Connecticut and Chappaqua residents adjacent the airport by not building a new runway, or not putting in new East West takeoff and landing patterns. Not adding flights.

Are helicopters prone to crash.? Yes. They are drones with a person in them.

NBC 4 LAST APRIL DID A REPORT ON HELICOPTER CRASHES  AROUND NEW YORK CITY HERE IS THE LIST

2021: A helicopter sustained significant damage during a hard landing at a Manhattan helipad. The pilot and a co-pilot were not hurt.

2019: A helicopter used for executive travel hits the roof of a Manhattan skyscraper in restricted airspace. The pilot is killed.

2019: A charter helicopter goes into the Hudson River and sinks while being maneuvered at a heliport. The pilot escapes.

2018: Five people drown when a charter helicopter offering “open door” flights crashes in the East River . The pilot survives.

2011: Three people die when a helicopter carrying a family outing plunges into the East River.

2009: A sightseeing helicopter carrying Italian tourists collides with a private plane over the Hudson River, killing nine.

2007: A sightseeing helicopter drops into the Hudson River after experiencing a mechanical problem after lifting off from a West Side heliport. Everyone makes it out safely.

2005: A corporate helicopter carrying MBNA Corp. executives falls into the East river after taking off from the East 34th Street heliport. The pilot is seriously injured but everyone survives.

2005: A sightseeing helicopter goes into the East River while trying to take off from the Wall Street heliport. A British tourist nearly drowns.

2004: A WNBC news helicopter hits a building in Brooklyn and disintegrates while covering a story. All occupants survive.

1997: One person is killed and a second is badly injured when a helicopter owned by the Colgate-Palmolive Company falls into the East River after taking off from the 60th Street heliport.

1990: One person dies after the pilot of an Island Helicopter air taxi misjudges the wind during a takeoff from the East 34th Street heliport and flies into the river.

1988: A passenger drowns when a sightseeing helicopter loses power and makes a forced landing in the East River.

1986: An NBC radio traffic reporter dies when the helicopter she is riding in loses lift, hits a fence and crashes into the Hudson.

1985: A passenger drowns when a sightseeing flight operated by New York Helicopters crashes into the East River after taking off from the East 34th Street heliport.

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Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Enjoying this newsletter? Why not share it with a friend? Increasing HIV in New York An unsettling trend Marisa Donnelly Dec 11  Reprinted with permission READ IN APP New York City is seeing an unsettling trend: new HIV infections are rising. NYC was one of the earliest and hardest-hit cities of the HIV crisis. By the 1980s, thousands of New Yorkers were dying of HIV-related illnesses. Deaths peaked in the early 1990s, with ~7,500 New Yorkers lost each year in 1993 and 1994. In the early years, government funding for HIV research was slow, in part because of stigma against the populations most affected, particularly gay men and people who inject drugs. In response to devastating losses, New York communities mobilized. Activist groups like ACT UP and GMHC led protests and demonstrations demanding faster research, more funding, and equitable care. Their efforts reshaped public health policy and laid the groundwork for today’s HIV treatment and prevention. But looming federal cuts are now threatening to undo some of this progress. New York has since been lauded for its continued efforts in the prevention and reduction of HIV. But even the best systems can’t withstand prolonged stress, and recent data show some cracks. Key questions include: Why now? And how do we protect years of progress? What is HIV, and where do we stand with treatment and prevention? HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks and destroys the infection-fighting CD4 cells of the immune system, making it harder for the body to fight off other infections and some cancers. Without treatment, HIV can gradually destroy the immune system and lead to AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), the most advanced stage of HIV infection. While there’s no cure for HIV, we have effective treatments and medications that can prevent infection: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) reduces the amount of HIV in the body to levels that are essentially undetectable. When the virus is undetectable, it cannot be transmitted through sex (undetectable = untransmittable). ART allows people to live long, healthy lives, but timing matters. Starting ART early, before immune cells decline, leads to stronger immune recovery and longer life expectancy. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can be taken before sex, injection drug use, or other potential HIV exposures. It reduces the risk of infection from sex by about 99%, and infection from drug use by about 74%. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) can be taken within 72 hours of potential exposure to reduce the risk of infection, but it’s less effective than PrEP. These treatments and medications are truly remarkable for HIV prevention and treatment, but early testing, diagnosis, and access to care are essential. Where we stand today Thanks to breakthroughs in ART, new cases in New York dropped significantly after their peak in 1993. And since then, the downward trend in both new cases and deaths due to HIV has mostly continued. History of the HIV epidemic in New York. Figure from the 2024 NYC HIV Surveillance Annual Report. But that has recently changed—in 2024, for the second year in a row, New York City HIV cases increased. Why are infections rising again? Even in a state with some of the strongest HIV prevention programs in the country, New York was not immune to the ripple effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The recent rise in HIV cases appears to be strongly tied to disruptions in prevention, testing, and care during the pandemic. During the early stages of the pandemic in 2020, HIV testing plummeted across New York, and it still hadn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels by 2022. Total HIV testing among NYS Department of Health AIDS Institute-funded providers in New York State. Figure from O’Grady et al.; Annotations by YLE. Two-thirds of HIV testing clinics in NYC shut down in the early months of the pandemic. Community outreach at bars, nightclubs, and other venues also stopped. At the city level, only one of the NYC Health Department’s eight sexual health clinics remained open throughout the pandemic. To try to fill the gaps, the city health department created a sexual health hotline and launched programs to mail STI and HIV test kits and prevention supplies to residents. These were important adaptations, but they weren’t enough to close the gaps. New PrEP prescriptions and total PrEP prescriptions (including among those already taking it) also dropped substantially during the first 6 months of the pandemic. There were fewer clinic visits, prescription refills, and conversations between providers and patients about PrEP. Behind these statistics are deeper, structural issues. Housing instability, stigma, lack of adequate health insurance or employment, and unmet needs also continue to limit access to HIV services. Among those newly diagnosed in 2024 and interviewed by the NYC Health Department, 48% reported a lack of health insurance, 37% reported housing insecurity, and 13% reported food and nutrition needs. While the pandemic didn’t create these problems, it did make them worse. Those problems show up in the data about who is getting infected and where infection rates are increasing. There were 1,791 people newly diagnosed with HIV in NYC in 2024, a 5.4% increase from 2023. This follows a similar 6.9% rise the year before. In the rest of New York state, there were 734 new cases in 2024, no change from the year before. HIV continues to reflect deep social and racial disparities:85% of new diagnoses were among Black and Latino New Yorkers, who make up only 50% of the city’s population. 42% lived in high- or very high-poverty zip codes at the time of diagnosis. 75% of new cases were among men, 20% among women, and 4% among transgender women. Less than 1% identified as transgender men or another gender identity. NYC Communities that have the highest poverty rates (dark yellow/brown) also saw the highest rates of HIV diagnoses (dark pink). Figure from the 2024 NYC HIV Surveillance Annual Report. But there are some bright spots, too. Screening is working better in some groups. Transgender women and youth ages 13–29 were more likely to be diagnosed during the earliest stage of infection, suggesting early detection is improving for these populations. Access to care is also improving: 87% of people diagnosed with HIV in NYC are receiving care, and among those, 90% are virally suppressed. Unfortunately, proposed federal funding cuts to HIV programs threaten to widen disparity gaps. What federal HIV budget cuts mean for New York Proposed federal budget cuts for FY2026 could damage key programs in New York, especially in communities facing the highest risk. These programs are on the line: CDC HIV Prevention Program: The House bill proposes eliminating all $755.6 million in federal funding, including over $41 million for NYC. These funds support HIV surveillance, testing, and outreach. Without it, our ability to track and contain HIV will be weakened. Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative: Congress could eliminate the entire $220 million budget for EHE. NYC is a priority site, and these funds currently support PrEP access, mobile testing, and same-day care. Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program: The bill proposes a $525 million cut, including the elimination of programs that fund HIV care in community health centers, provider training, and support services for women, infants, children, and youth. Thousands of New Yorkers rely on Ryan White for care, housing, and case management. Medicaid: Proposed changes would cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years. In New York, almost half of all people with HIV depend on Medicaid. Taken together, these cuts don’t just reduce funding, they remove the infrastructure that supports our entire HIV response. Right now, these programs are temporarily funded at last year’s levels under a short-term continuing resolution (which ended the government shutdown), but Congress will have to vote on the full FY2026 budget in the coming months, putting them back on the chopping block. If enacted, New York could backslide on decades of progress, increasing disparities and seeing a resurgence of preventable infections. Bottom line New York has made incredible progress in the fight against HIV, but that progress is not guaranteed. Rising infection rates, persistent disparities, and looming federal funding cuts put us at risk of sliding backwards. Continued investment in testing, early access to ART, and prevention are essential to keep moving forward. Love, Your NY Epi Dr. Marisa Donnelly, PhD, is an epidemiologist, science communicator, and public health expert. This newsletter exists to translate complex public health data into actionable insights, empowering New Yorkers to make informed and evidence-based health decisions.

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Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Enjoying this newsletter? Why not share it with a friend? Why CDC health data are still reliable  …even amid challenges to communications and integrity (REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION) Katelyn Jetelina, Hannah Totte, MPH, and Marisa Donnelly Dec 10 READ IN APP Back in February (a lifetime ago), when data were being edited under Executive Orders and all CDC communications were effectively frozen, I outlined four scenarios that would signal real cause for concern about CDC’s information. Two of them have now unfolded in the past month: The breach of scientific integrity, for example, the autism and vaccines site along with other  less publicized changes. The injection of political messaging into HHS channels. Never did I think I would see it, but here we are. The full extent of the damage is still unclear, and how much more may occur remains unknown. But one question stands out: What is the integrity of the data itself? Public health data—the public information used to estimate disease, hospitalization, and death rates, for example—are a vital resource. Their value lies in their purity, reliability, accuracy, and accessibility. Despite everything, I remain confident in CDC data. This largely stems from the U.S. public health system’s unconventional, decentralized structure. A pain in the butt fragmented system for epidemiologists, but one that now works to our advantage. Hannah, the YLE Community Manager, pulled the top six questions you’ve been asking so we can provide answers. Here’s where things stand. 1. Why can we still trust CDC data? The key is a nuance most people find boring. Public health data in the U.S. do not flow from the top down; data are decentralized and built from the bottom up. Local and state health departments and hospital systems collect, manage, clean, and report data before they ever reach CDC. Take flu data. When someone is hospitalized, the hospital records the case. That information moves to local or state health departments, where teams verify and clean it. Only then do states upload finalized numbers to CDC through secure systems. CDC then stitches these local puzzle pieces into a coherent national picture. This role is essential because diseases do not respect state lines. CDC data inform cross-state responses, hospital capacity planning, testing needs, resource allocation, early warning signals, and shared lessons across jurisdictions. Without CDC, we would have 50 separate snapshots instead of a unified national system. Because CDC primarily stitches data rather than collects it, federal interference is much harder. CDC does run direct data collection for vital statistics and surveys, including collecting information on vaccination uptake, mortality, and health behaviors such as smoking and nutrition. Most of these datasets remain intact, with exceptions: some data elements have been removed, like transgender status, and funding cuts may halt certain surveys. 2. What about states that may also want to interfere with data? For many diseases, reporting is legally required by states. A classic example is measles: when a patient is diagnosed, the health care provider must report the case to the county or state health department. But states voluntarily share this information with CDC. If a state wants to stop reporting to CDC, for whatever reason and for whatever data, they have the authority to do so. We saw this challenge during COVID-19 when some states, like Texas, stopped reporting vaccination data after the emergency period ended. The result was a significant gap on the CDC dashboard, leaving an incomplete national picture. This year, you could easily see a potential “flip” scenario: some states could choose to stop reporting to CDC because of a lack of trust in HHS. 3. Is automation helping detect outbreaks in this moment of strain? What about layoffs? Yes! Automation is incredibly helpful for outbreaks, but humans do the work, too. When someone is diagnosed with a foodborne illness, for example, the testing lab typically sends the bacterial isolate to the state public health lab. The samples are genetically sequenced, and results are uploaded to PulseNet, CDC’s database. Then, algorithms scan for genetic clusters on data from across the country. If a cluster is detected—which suggests infections are linked and may have been infected from the same source— an alert is issued to public health epidemiologists who begin investigating in partnership with environmental health specialists and food safety agencies. This algorithmic step removes much of the guesswork from identifying the initial stages of foodborne illness clusters and is a mostly automated process. But the core of outbreak response still relies on human investigation—interviewing patients, tracing food histories, and linking cases to a source. The more cuts we have to staff, the more limited our capacity will be to respond to some of these outbreaks. Many are bracing for next year, when budgets will be cut by billions. 4. Have data communications changed? Collecting data is one thing. Communicating it is another. Communications capacity has been dramatically reduced. The National Public Health Coalition, a grassroots organization of fired HHS employees, found the Office of Communications is operating at roughly half of its pre-October capacity. Source: CDC Data Project As you can imagine, this impacts outputs. Take HAN—these are safety alerts sent to physicians as a heads up on what to look for when there’s an emerging issue. The HAN office still exists, but it takes significant initiative to complete a HAN, even when the administration cares about such matters. HAN has published only five alerts since the new administration took office. For comparison, HAN published 16 alerts in 2024 and 18 in 2023. 5. Is there a world where a U.S.-based NGO gets created to effectively replace the CDC? To some extent, this is already happening as quickly as possible. We see this from multiple angles: Regional coalitions sharing communications, briefs, and insights Non-federal groups synthesizing data, like the Vaccine Integrity Project Communication efforts, including professional organizations like AAP (who has STEPPED UP on social media platforms), and grassroots efforts like The Evidence Collective Data democratization efforts, like PopHIVE The problem is that nothing can ever compete with the federal government’s budget, far-reaching infrastructure, and authority. 6. What does this mean for you? You can feel confident that CDC data are accurately tracking diseases. And, if you’re data gurus like us, you can also feel confident using the CDC data. We will let you know when our confidence decreases. But also keep in mind that other sources exist: Local and state public health departments remain primary sources of data, often publishing their own dashboards. Non-federal data sources such as WastewaterSCAN, Biobot, and PopHIVE provide additional datasets. Bottom line The data infrastructure is largely intact thanks to a decentralized system. As a nation, we will need to continuously ensure this is the case, as data are gold. The communications capacity, however, has been severely weakened. Americans shouldn’t have to monitor inputs and outputs from the nation’s leading public health agency, but here we are. Love, YLE A special thanks to Katie Fullerton, a dear friend who spent years working in CDC data systems for a read through and feedback on this draft. Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) is founded and operated by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD —an epidemiologist, wife. YLE reaches over 320,000 people in over 132 countries with one goal: “Translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below: Your Local Epidemiologist is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribed A guest post by Marisa Donnelly Your weekly pulse on New York public health — concise, evidence-based, and action-oriented. Subscribe to Marisa

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Hudson Valley Region

     For the 12-month period ending September 2025, the private sector job count in the Hudson Valley fell by 1,400, or 0.2 percent, to 827,800.  Employment gains were largest in private education and health services (+5,200), financial activities (+1,000) and professional and business services (+1,000).  Job losses were greatest in leisure and hospitality (-4,000), other services (-1,900), mining, logging and construction (-1,100), information (-1,000) and trade, transportation and utilities (-700).

     In September 2025, the region’s private sector job market has begun to show signs of weakness as job growth was limited to just four sectors, while five sectors posted losses.  Private education and health services remained the region’s leading jobs generator, climbing 2.3 percent to 233,000 – its highest September employment count on record.  Meanwhile, job losses were most apparent in the leisure and hospitality sector – down 4.2 percent over the period.

     Within the region, Rockland County posted the strongest gains, up 4.6 percent year-over-year.  They were followed by Sullivan County (+4.0 percent), Putnam County (+1.3 percent), the Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh MSA (+0.6 percent), and the Kingston MSA (+0.2 percent).  Westchester County was the only area that posted job losses – down 2.6 percent over the period.

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WESTCHESTER COUNTY EXECUTIVE KEN JENKINS ISSUES STATEMENT

ON THE PASSAGE OF THE 2026 COUNTY BUDGET

“I thank the Westchester County Board of Legislators for their diligent work and leadership in revising and passing the 2026 budget. The $2.5 billion dollar spending plan was shaped by one of the most challenging financial climates we have faced in years. The difficulties of 2025 will carry into 2026 and likely beyond, and this budget reflects the hard, necessary choices before us.

“We are operating in a moment of unprecedented instability created by decisions made in Washington by the Trump Administration – decisions far beyond the County’s control. Federal cuts, new requirements and tariff policies have injected volatility into local budgeting in ways we have not experienced in recent memory. This budget is a direct response to that Trump turmoil.

“Westchester’s 2026 budget reduces nearly all County department budgets by eight percent and eliminates 180 positions, reducing our workforce by almost five percent. Even with these cuts, we have produced a tax-cap-compliant budget that protects essential services, supports affordability initiatives and our workforce. For the average homeowner, this amounts to roughly $3 dollars more per month to sustain the level of service Westchester taxpayers expect and deserve.

“Again, I thank the Board for their partnership as we navigate this difficult moment together.”