The East River Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA), formally known as the East River class-B exclusion, is a section of

airspace Airspace is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. It is not the same as aerospace, which is the ...

above the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in which flight is permitted under

visual flight rules In aviation, visual flight rules (VFR) are a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better ...

(VFR). Formerly, this could be done without being in contact with

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

. Pilots operating within the SFRA are expected to self-announce on a designated

frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...

of 123.075

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

, and to maintain appropriate separation visually. After a 2006 plane crash near the corridor, the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

imposed a

temporary flight restriction The Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) are rules prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) governing all aviation activities in the United States. The FARs comprise Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). A wide variety o ...

(TFR) requiring all pilots of fixed-wing aircraft to obtain permission from LaGuardia's air traffic control tower for flight in the East River VFR corridor between the southern tip of

Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk Channel. The National Park ...

and the northern tip of

Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to 85 ...

. The pilot must remain in contact with air traffic control while in the exclusion. An exception is granted for seaplanes landing or departing from the

New York Skyports Seaplane Base New York Skyports Inc. Seaplane base is a seaplane base in the East River VFR corridor in New York City, located at the foot of 23rd Street (Manhattan), East 23rd Street between Waterside Plaza and Stuyvesant Cove Park. A seaplane ramp was constru ...

located in the East River near 23rd Street. Technically, this area remains a VFR corridor and outside of Class B airspace. However, the TFR imposes many of the requirements of entering Class B airspace. Significantly, cloud clearance and visibility requirements are not changed. The rule is among many regulating

aviation in the New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area has the busiest airport system in the United States and the second busiest in the world after London. It is also the most frequently used port of entry and departure for international flights. In 2011, more than 104 ...

, which also includes the Hudson River SFRA. A major difference between the East River VFR and

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

SFRA's are that the latter route allows VFR flight along the entire length of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, whereas the East River corridor ends southwest of

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. ...

. For this reason, helicopter traffic in the East River SFRA is the norm, and fixed-wing pilots tend to avoid it, as it requires a very tight turn-around in order to avoid continuing flight into the LaGuardia airspace.

References

Ask the pilot : Should New York's famous East and Hudson River flyways be closed to small aircraft?
by Patrick Smith in

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

ALC-79: New York City Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA)
by FAA in FAASafety.gov
Foreflight Content Pack
for pilots using Foreflight {{coord, 40, 44, N, 73, 58, W, region:US-NY_type:landmark, display=title Air traffic control in the United States Aviation in New York City East River