Photo Courtesy of YouTube/Friends of Suozzi
U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi is now co-chairman of the caucus that Rep. Meng helped launch in 2014.
By Michael V. Cusenza
U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Queens and Long Island) has been named co-chairman of the Congressional Quiet Skies Caucus, Suozzi’s predecessor on the panel, Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing), announced this week.
Meng, who will continue as a member of Quiet Skies, has served as co-chairwoman since she helped launch the caucus in 2014. The group, according to Meng, works to find solutions to the problem of aircraft noise, and is composed of members of Congress from across the country whose constituents are adversely affected by the issue.
“It has been an honor to serve as co-chair of the Quiet Skies Caucus and I am pleased to pass the torch to Rep. Suozzi who has been active on this issue since Day 1,” said Meng. “I will remain an active member of the caucus, and will continue to lead the fight in combating the excessive airplane noise that exists over Queens.”
Meng also congratulated Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), who will serve as co-chairwoman of the caucus, as well as new vice chairmen: Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) and Mike Quigley (D-IL).
“I look forward to building on Representative Meng’s work and bringing all local stakeholders together to try and reduce airplane and helicopter noise so that Queens and Nassau residents can have some peace and quiet,” Suozzi said.
Meng and fellow elected Queens officials on the city, state, and federal levels have been working for years on measures to mitigate excessive aircraft noise—which she has said she believes increased significantly in 2012 due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s implementation of new flight patterns over the borough.
