Thursday, September 18, 2014

Close encounters


[Via Bill the Libertarian Anarchist]

So if you were around Avenue B (below, say, East Seventh Street) late this afternoon... then you likely heard the helicopter PRETTY MUCH LAND IN YOUR LIVING ROOM...


[Via @in_vino_nyc]


[Via EVG]

We've heard various sources for the noise ... including that a crew was filming a skateboard documentary (!?) ...

Updated 9-19

A reader sent along another photo…



… and a video…

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Saw this.
Must've sucked to be in the top floor apartment with a bunch of skateboards overhead.

Anonymous said...

The helicopter was circling only a few feet above the rooftops, centered over a building on 4th between a and b where a bunch of upscale kids were skateboarding on the roof. It was only 20 feet or so above the surrounding rooftops as it zoomed in and out for about half an hour, terrorizing the people in nearby buildings, and their pets for that matter. The kids on the roof shouted "fuck you" to people who stuck their heads out the window to say anything.

In a city where it is considered to dangerous and thus illegal for me to have a smoke with drink in the bar, where they spend millions to make it illegal to order a big soda, too dangerous, a chopper zig-zagging around a few feet over my head so that some 'special' kids can have fancy movie footage of their party, no problem.

Jill W said...

drones are made for this! cheaper too

Billsville said...

Are we sure this isn't another Jackass movie? And isn't this why they sell those drones that you hook your iPhone onto to take videos of people getting undressed in their glassed-in fishbowl apartments? I can't wait to see the footage of these kids jumping from one roof to another, naked.

Anonymous said...

They never think that for some of us who lived here during 9/11 the first thing that comes to mind is that that is the military overhead and something is going down. Unreal. I was in my kitchen (on 3rd and B) and it scared the s##t out of me! I kept thinking that a plane might crash into the building. I couldn't figure out why I kept hearing it circling. WTH??? Filming rich kids skate boarding? This truly is the end of days! UGH!

Anonymous said...

Maybe this explains why I saw Shaun White skating down Stuyvesant Street solo going in what may have been his ultimate destination of Avenue B this afternoon??

Buzz Gluebag said...

I've lived in Manhattan for 31 years (East 4th Street for 19 of them) and have never heard a helicopter fly that low. At first I thought it was going to land on our roof for safety due to a mechanical issue and then it was loitering overhead for so long that I assumed there was a serious Police manhunt going on. I'm going to check with the Mayor's Office for Film and TV to see if they had a permit filed.

Anonymous said...

What ever happened to the East Village of Iggy Pop? "Around here, no one would ever tell you not to fly a helicopter over the roof."

And how do we know these kids are rich? If they were rich, they'd have been playing polo.

Anonymous said...

Someone at the police station on 5th St. told me that a movie company got permission from the aviation dept. to have the 'copter fly there. My response was that this should not be allowed and that the local people should have input into this. The cops should have put up signs on the streets informing the neighborhood that this was going to happen.

Oh, did I ever say that I loathe the government? You should too.

Bill the libertarian anarchist

Anonymous said...

If this happens again, CALL YOUR LOCAL PRECINCT. Don't waste your time with 311. Find the number to your local precinct and call them directly and tell them as many details as you can.

The helicopters probably violated FAA laws in regards to how close they can hover above apartment buildings.

Anonymous said...

Whenever I call the precinct they tell me to call 311.

Anonymous said...

And when you call your local precinct, will they answer?

Anonymous said...

Sounds like they're at it again RIGHT NOW!

Anonymous said...

Has this story been pushed out to other media outlets?

Billsville said...

Everyone can blame this on the Flying Tomato Shaun White, he is filming some new commercial or promo for ESPN or Nike, was out in Brooklyn this weekend buying furs for his girlfriend. Thanks a lot Shaun, we know they are paying you millions of dollars to go around pretending being a New Age hipster skateboarding musician, but people are trying to sleep around here so maybe its time to get a new hobby.

Anonymous said...

@9:58 - Yes, when I call my local precinct (5th) I always get someone on the phone. Just the other night I called them because a car's alarm had been going off nonstop for the last half hour. They came out within minutes. If I had called 311, they probably wouldn't have shown up for 7 hours.

Anonymous said...

I have never in all of my years of living in NYC seen a helicopter--not even a police helicopter--flying that low. This doesn't seem like a safe idea. Aren't there regulations against this?

Victoria said...

Anon @ 12:18 AM

I am right there with you. It was so worried that something terrible had happened, either that or there was a massive police manhunt going on. Never would I ever have thought - oh a movie is being filmed.

Zoe Hansen said...

People are you kidding me? Whining about a noisy helicopter? You sound like the hellish new EV ers who've made it hard to run businesses BC of noise complaints. No one used to whine about noise back in the good old days of the real EV... To assume the skaters are rich kids is exactly who you all must be BC anyone living in the EV & hadn't been here for 30 yrs & is lucky to have a rent stabilized apt, must be 'rich' stop the fake crap, & stop complaing