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HACKENSACK — City officials are questioning why a new flight path into Teterboro Airport announced last year, after more than a decade of lobbying for change, is hardly used.

The alternative flight pattern diverts air traffic away from Hackensack University Medical Center and high-rise buildings along Prospect Avenue. Instead, pilots, who were trained on the new route in July, were to fly along the Route 17 corridor in their approach to the airport.

But data released this month revealed that the flight path was minimally used at night and almost never during the day.

Pilots landing on Runway 19 — the busiest runway at the airport — used the new approach less than 1% of the time. Out of nearly 9,000 total flights in January, February and March, just 79 have used the flight path. At night, the usage was slightly higher, at nearly 10%.

So far in 2022, a sound monitor on Prospect Avenue showed an average of 60.6 decibels, 3.4 higher than in 2021 and 1.6 above pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

This came as no surprise to officials and high-rise residents, who say the deafening noise from aircraft continues unabated.

“On Sunday afternoon they aren’t even two minutes apart all day,” said Kathleen Canestrino, the deputy mayor. “The weather is getting nicer, and people can’t be outside their homes. You can’t watch television with the windows open.”

At the time the flight path was announced, Federal Aviation Administration officials said it would take 45 days to train pilots and estimated that about a third of the flights coming into Teterboro would use the new approach.

Arlene Salac, a spokeswoman for the FAA, said the path is a viable alternative for pilots to use, but that the decision on what approach to take is at their discretion.

'It's just intolerable'

Residents who have lived with the noise for years say they are frustrated with the lack of change and are concerned about the possibility of an accident in the densely populated area. In 2017, a jet crashed in Carlstadt, killing the pilot and co-pilot.

“We were very hopeful because it took years to accomplish this,” said Annette Jankowski, chairwoman of the city’s Condo and Co-op Advisory Board. “They fly so low, if you live on the higher floors and are sitting on a balcony, you can literally see the numbers on the plane. It’s just intolerable at this point.”

Tensions between the airport and its neighbors have been building for years. The Teterboro Aircraft Noise Abatement Advisory Committee was formed in the late 1980s to create a dialogue between the airport and the surrounding communities. Local officials on the committee have been campaigning for more than a decade for the FAA to alter the flight path.

When it opened in 1919 as the first airport in the metropolitan area, Teterboro accommodated single-engine planes. But traffic into the airport has increased to roughly 170,000 takeoffs and landings a year, and the noise has grown louder as larger jets with more powerful engines use the runways.

Teterboro serves as a reliever airport, taking on some of the non-scheduled air traffic that would cause congestion at the region’s commercial airports. Its proximity to New York makes it attractive for corporate jets, which are limited to 100,000 pounds, and it also plays a key role in the transport of lifesaving organs.

Complaints beyond Hackensack

Recently, towns farther afield have begun advocating for relief from the noise. Mayors in the Pascack Valley now say their residents are being disturbed and have asked for a seat on the advisory committee, which limits membership to a 5-mile radius of the airport.

“There really has been no improvement,” said Ray Arroyo, the Westwood mayor. “Our people should be represented.”

Carlos Rendo, the mayor of Woodcliff Lake, said he’s frustrated with the lack of answers from the airport and the FAA.

“They give us this dog-and-pony show with no solutions,” he said. “At least on the weekends, they should divert the traffic so people can enjoy being outside with their families.”

But not everyone is unhappy with the flight path’s limited use.

“We’re glad they haven’t taken advantage of it, because would impact more Paramus residents,” said Richard LaBarbiera, the borough's mayor. "The alternate route takes one problem and just moves it somewhere else. If anything, it is accommodating the few at the expense of many.”

Under the new flight pattern, instead of flying over Hackensack University Medical Center, planes would travel near where The Valley Hospital is building an $800 million, seven-story facility and would disturb countless residents in the area, LaBarbiera said.

“It’s like people who buy a house on a highway and then complain and ask for sound barriers,” he said. “The airport’s been there for 100 years — it’s not like it just dropped in from nowhere. That’s what you signed up for. To change it now is changing the rules of the game halfway through.”

Hackensack officials say they will keep demanding answers as to why the flight path is not being used. And they are asking for the airport to replace windows and install air conditioning at Hillers Elementary School, where teachers have to close windows on hot days just to be heard.

“If you want to be a good neighbor, then realize you are in a densely populated county and you have to be considerate of the folks who live here,” said Canestrino, the Hackensack deputy mayor. “We have a solution; let’s use it.”

Megan Burrow is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: burrow@northjersey.com

HACKENSACK — City officials are protesting the FAA's decision to postpone a change to the flight path of planes landing at Teterboro Airport.

The FAA had agreed to divert the path away from Hackensack University Medical Center and high-rise apartment buildings along Prospect Avenue. But last month agency officials announced that the change, which was planned for August, would instead be delayed until March 2020.

“We’re very upset. We believed we were making progress and working cooperatively toward a solution,” said Deputy Mayor Kathleen Canestrino, who represents the city on the Teterboro Airport Noise Abatement Advisory Committee, a group of airport and municipal officials who oversee aircraft noise and recommend changes to the FAA and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

City Council members asked the public Tuesday night to urge the FAA to act sooner by calling in noise complaints when planes fly low overhead and appeal to their federal and state representatives. Some residents suggested protesting outside the airport or filing a lawsuit if nothing is done.

The conflict between the airport and the surrounding residential communities has been building for years.

Traffic into the airport, which opened in 1919 to accommodate single-engine planes, has increased, and residents have complained of noise from the larger private jets that now use the runways.

Teachers at Hillers Elementary School, which sits along the flight path, have to close classroom windows to be heard, Mayor John Labrosse said. On weekends the airplane noise is so loud and frequent that Labrosse said he cannot sit outside his home.

“It’s brutal,” he said. “Most of these planes have maybe two pilots and two or three passengers on them. It’s a lot of pain for the gain of a few people.”

Concern has also grown over the possibility of a crash in the densely populated area along the flight path.

In 2017, a plane bound for Teterboro crashed in Carlstadt, killing the pilot and co-pilot.

“We’re concerned. God forbid there is an accident. Why risk it?” said Soheila Spaeth, who lives in a 26-story building on Prospect Avenue. “Preventative measures are always better than acting after a catastrophe.”

City officials thought a solution was at hand when an agreement was reached more than a year ago to direct incoming flights west of the current approach, away from the hospital and high-rise buildings and over Maywood and Rochelle Park — two communities without tall apartment buildings.

In 2016, the FAA implemented a six-month test of a flight path that would take planes along the Route 17 corridor.

But that path, which was dubbed the “quiet visual approach” and required pilots to use visual checkpoints like Garden State Plaza and a sports dome in Waldwick, was barely used by pilots, who preferred to use instruments to land their planes.

The plan that was to be implemented in August would have allowed pilots to use instruments to land their planes while avoiding the hospital and high-rises.

The proposed flight path, called the GPS option, would only be used during good weather with clear visibility, said Jim Peters, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Authority. Planes would continue to use the current approach to runway 19 at Teterboro in stormy conditions or when there is heavy air traffic.

FAA officials announced that the flight path change was delayed until March 2020 at the noise abatement committee’s quarterly meeting last month.

Officials blamed the delay on the federal government shutdown in January.

The agency was unable to hire a consultant to perform environmental testing as part of the work because of the shutdown. When the federal government reopened, the person lined up for the job had taken another position, pushing the project's timeline back.

The agency has restarted the process to award a contract for an environmental assessment of the new flight path, which must be completed before pilots can begin using it, Peters said.

Canestrino said she was told the Teterboro work had become a lower priority to the agency than other areas with safety concerns.

“As residents of this city, where we are seeing the most noise, the most air traffic and planes flying the closest to the most densely populated street in all of Bergen County, I think we have a right to have a very high priority,” she said. “We have a flight path, we know what we want to do, let’s just get it done.”

Email: burrow@northjersey.com

NJ.com compiled a list of 25 New Jersey municipalities they'd like to see go the way of the dinosaurs, and the writer took a few shots at Bergen County in the piece.

Bergen County in particular makes the writer "so angry," yet only three of the 25 towns named are in the county. They're Teterboro, Rockleigh and South Hackensack. The other 67 towns in the county were apparently fine with him.

Why Bergen has so many towns

"In square mileage, Alaska is about 2,700 times larger than Bergen County, yet it only has about twice as many recognized towns," writes the author of the list. Here's why and how Bergen County swelled to 70 counties.

In the late 19th century, Bergen County was ground zero in the battle between the established farming community, known as "Punkin Dusters," and a rapidly growing population of urban transplants, known simply as "Commuters."

By 1893, the Borough Act allowed voters to form their own boroughs by simply holding a referendum. As the Punkin Dusters and Commuters fought over what services they did or didn't want in their communities, the new law gave them a way to break away from what they viewed as local tyranny by the opposing side. The fever broke in 1895 after a change in law, by then Bergen had grown into the 70 municipalities we see today.

In case you don't know about these Bergen towns that got singled out, here are the highlights.

Teterboro

Yes, Teterboro is small, but even so you've probably heard of its airport, and with good reason. Teterboro Airport, which opened in 1919, is the oldest airport in New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area.

During World War I, North American Aviation (which would later become North American Rockwell) operated a manufacturing plant on the site. After the war, it was a base of operations for a Dutch aircraft designer and builder. Then, during World War II, the Army and Air Force took over operations.

It's also home to the Aviation Hall of Fame which features historic air and space equipment, artifacts, an extensive model collection and honors local aeronautical greats and their achievements, including Fred Wehran.

However, despite historical significance, the airport is not without its issues.

Rockleigh

With just 531 people spread over less than one square mile, Rockleigh could be easily overlooked. But, it's the former stomping grounds (literally) of Revolutionary War troops and is jam-packed with history.

During the war, George Washington as general ordered a fortified military post established at Snedens Landing to prevent invasion, staffed by 500 troops. Both Rockleigh and Piermont roads were thoroughfares used by troops as well, steeping the small community in history. The borough is also home to 23 historic homes, including the house of Abraham Haring, who was a captain of the Bergen County Militia.

Not only is it historically significant, it was also named 13th best place to live in New Jersey by New Jersey Monthly magazine in 2008.

South Hackensack

South Hackensack's name makes it easy to find in theory, but it wasn't until 1935 that it was named so.

Modern-day South Hackensack was once a part of Lodi Township, before the area began to split into Hasbrouck Heights, Little Ferry, Lodi and Moonachie in the early 1900s. The remainder became South Hackensack and is a classic example of boroughitis' splintering of communities into smaller pieces in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

What makes South Hackensack more interesting is that it's comprised of three non-contiguous chunks of land separated by Teterboro, Moonachie and Hasbrouck Heights.

It's not the only municipality to have a non-traditional set up, though. Metuchen, the town Gov. Phil Murphy calls home, also got called out for being a "donut hole town." The township is completely surrounded by Edison.