European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 21, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                � v Airliner roars 500 feet Over John Rice Home of course   was the some Howard Beach commotion Over concorde. " is this pugnacious spirit in the Ordinary Middle class Folk who live around the Airport and Cope with it Dally who have earned How to cause More com motion than any faster than sound air plane. Right or wrong their phone Calls letters rallies demonstrations and votes Are a big reason that the magnificent Bird has yet to nest at Kennedy. A . District judge in new York has ruled that a ban on landings of the supersonic Airliner at Juk is illegal but he port authority of new York and new Jersey is appealing the decision. Meanwhile air France announced it plans to begin daily scheduled nights from Paris to new York on june 20. Elizabeth Walsh now 81, moved to Howard Beach in 1937 to the third House on Shell Bank Basin ii years before the Airport opened and 21 years before the first jets came. Mosquitoes Breeding in the Basin were her big Gest problem in those Days when Howard Beach was Little More than a summer resort. In the late 1950s and 60s. Streets were carved in the Farmland West of mrs. Wak n. Houses and apartments sprang up. Swelling the population of Howard Beach to nearly 20,000 today and giving it political clout. The neighbourhood associations that later would Lead the fight against the concorde were beginning to form. "1 never had a crack in my House til those planes  mrs. Walsh says. Now i be got to get a Man in to do the plastering in my dining  headlights on the planes Spray into the House at night. "1 get scared. I figure somebody s in the living  she has carried the Banner of Many causes As a staunch unionist before she retired still As treasurer of the local democratic party organization. Anything they Ever had. I  that the latest fray involves the Federal government and two foreign countries does t intimidate her i think they have a nerve. They should pay us what they owe us before they build those big planes. They still owe us from the first War. Don t they the people of Howard Beach Are italian jewish and Irish school teachers firemen carpenters plumbers and businessmen with houses averaging $60,000 and a median income of $14,000. What s aroused in them such a passion Over an air plane for one thing they Are clinging to the summer resort feeling that lingers despite the Jet noise. You arc almost in the country and the City at the same time says Joseph cumin a retired dressmaker who darts about in a Maroon Pontiac with four Orange Stop the set bumper stickers. Although he and Many others moved in after jets started using Kennedy in 1958. The air traffic was not so heavy As it is  they remain he says because the Rural atmosphere is still Worth the bother of the planes. The Community is immaculately Well kept says Britta Perry of the City planning department. The people who live in Howard Beach have made if so to speak. They moved from older City neighbourhoods. They re not Only Active but they know How to get action How to put pressure on politicians. They re very Well organized and quite  their Quick mobilization against the concorde did t appear overnight. It grew out of years of practice. The half dozen civic associations in Howard Beach have fought to keep a garbage dump out. To clean up the fallout from nearby incinerator Lowers to lower Utility rates. As for the Airport the Federal aviation administration logged 700 Telephone Calls from Howard Beach protesting Jet noise last year. But the biggest fight before the con Corde was waged against a proposed Low income housing project. What s unique about us is that we Are sur rounded by water on three sides and a double Park Way on the other says trial lawyer Bryan Levinson a Community organizer and political Aspi rant. You either live in Howard Beach or you Don t. When you leave Howard Beach you know it having watched Jet traffic grow Over the years the people Are wary of allowing even a few lest flights of the concorde what Levinson Calls letting the Camel get his nose under the  when the wind turns in from the Southeast As it frequently does in summer making runway 13-right and its parallel 13-left Ideal for Landing the planes swoop i with a Roar and a whine in steady procession. About 17 per cent of the commercial planes Landing and 42 per cent of those taking off at Kennedy pass Over Howard Beach. Planes to and from the three big airports Kennedy Laguardia and Newark Fly Over nearly every neighbourhood in the new York metropolitan area. The Yare lowest and loudest Over the houses adjacent to the airports. Well you hear it Don t you Edward Bloom says out watering his front Lawn shaking a fist at the plane. That s not the concorde. That s the quiet plane i Haven t heard the concorde but they say it s noisier  twice As noisy on Takeoff in fact As jets built before 1969 such As the pcs and the 707 and four times louder than newer planes like he dc10 and 747, according to the environmental Impact statement on the concorde. In addition to the intensity of sound the concorde produces five times As much Low frequency noise As current planes the kind of noise that is not so much heard As fell vibrating Walls rattling pots and pans. The voices of Howard Beach have been heard quite clearly at the port authority of new York and new Jersey an Agency appointed by the governors of the two states that acts As Kennedy s landlord. It has held up approval of concorde landings there or More than a year leading air France and British airways to file a lawsuit challenging Iti right to dose. Recently the two airlines submitted to the authority a set of proposed operating procedures that would mini Mize the concorde s noise around Kennedy. When land ing with its fuel expended and its weight Down the concorde is about As loud As a regular Jet. To reduce the greater Takeoff noise the airlines proposed a Power Cut Back and a Sharp turn to the left immediately after liftoff from the runway pointed at Howard Beach. The people there would still hear the noise but not from directly overhead. John Rice could watch it All from his front door. He turns 76 this year and plans to step Down As Board chairman of the Hamilton Beach civic association but the memory of his Irish parents is still Young. I m a Good agitator. I m a Good rabble rouser 1 Cangel some of these youngsters stirred up. My Mother and father were both Cor ionians the corks were known As the rebels. The saying up the rebels originated in county Cork. They fought England if we have to fight the British and French let s  21, 1977 the stars and stripes Page 15