Choppers Flying Higher Over BPC
Battery Park City residents who have long been haunted by the roar of helicopters outside their windows are getting some relief from at least one helicopter tour operator.

At the urging of Community Board 1, Liberty Tours, which flies more than 100,000 passengers a year down the Hudson River and around the Statue of Liberty, agreed last month to instruct its pilots to fly higher.

Military, police, news and Coast Guard helicopters often circle the Downtown area, but some Battery Park City residents said the tour group’s choppers were the most frequently seen, and heard. “It’s like we’re living at Kennedy airport,” complained Liberty Terrace  resident Isaac Gindi during a January meeting of the community board’s Battery Park City Committee. “It’s non stop.”

Early last month, representatives from Liberty Tours came before the committee with a new flight pattern that would have their helicopters at 2,000 feet above the Hudson River, rather than the current 1,100 feet.

“You will hardly see us, and you won’t hear us at 2,000 feet,” said Pat Day, director of flight operations for Liberty Tours.

Board members were happy with even that small measure of relief, noting that chopper traffic over Battery Park City had increased significantly after Sept. 11.

“The worst offender is the Coast Guard,” said Anthony Notaro, the committee’s chairman. “They get so close sometimes, I could throw a book out my window and hit them.”


Taste of Chinatown
From the Bowery to Baxter Street and Canal Street to Worth Street, restaurants and bakeries will be offering tasty treats for $1 per dish at Taste of Chinatown on April 23 from 1 to 6 p.m. More than a half dozen cuisines will be represented, including Cantonese, Shanghainese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai and Korean.

For information, go to www.explorechinatown.com.

Friends Seek Friends
Friends of City Hall Park invite Downtown residents to provide suggestions for park improvements or other comments on the park during the city’s annual Parks Advocacy Day, on April 20. Meetings begin at 8:30 a.m.  at 250 Broadway, 16th floor.

If you are interested in attending, RSVP to cityhallpark@earthlink.net.

Free 9/11 Counseling
Downtown residents still feeling the emotional and physical effects of the Sept. 11 attacks may be eligible for free treatment at a holistic health spa. Through grants from the American Red Cross, qualified patients can receive free services, including medical care, massage therapy and counseling, at Olive Leaf Wholeness Center, 145 E. 23rd St. For an application, call 212-477-0405 or go to www.oliveleafwholenesscenter.com.


Adoption Seminar
Thinking of adopting a child? Tips on navigating the adoption process, in the United States and abroad, will be offered during a free clinic on May 3 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Synagogue for the Arts, 49 White St. The clinic is co-sponsored by the Jewish Child Care Association. Registration is required. Call 212-558-9949.

Lifeguard Training
Battery Park City Parks Conservancy is offering a five-week, 13-session lifeguard training class from April 12 to May 11. The class meets from 7 to 10 p.m. at Stuyvesant High School, 345 Chambers St. The course will teach the skills needed by professional lifeguards to prevent and respond to emergencies. All participants must be at least 15 years old. For more information, call Dwayne Stewart at 646-358-7397 or Paul Diaz at 646-358-9039. The cost is $300.

NYC History Lecture
Historian Joep deKoning will explore the city’s history in his talk, “The Birth of New York City: Our Legacy from the Dutch,” on April 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Pier 40 lobby (at Houston and West Streets). The talk is sponsored by Friends of Hudson River Park and costs $10. A light dinner will be served. Reservations are recommended. Call 212-757-0981 ext. 205 or email tours@fohrp.org.


Filmmakers Seeks 9/11 Cleanup Footage
Filmmakers behind a documentary study of the health risks to residents in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack are seeking home videos and still photographs of residents moving back into their apartments. The documentary is being produced by Speakeasy Docs for the nonprofit group, Films For Humanity, and will include interviews with doctors, industrial hygienist and scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Call Anne Labro, 212-337-3789 or email: health911doc@yahoo.com.