Originally Posted by
canard
I live on the LES, and twice in the last two weeks we've had low-flying planes on instrument approach to runway 13L at JFK, believe it or not (very rare--and loud!) This is due to the wind direction and the visibility conditions (the other, more common approach for 13L is the visual "Canarsie" approach, which involves descending over the ocean and then Canarsie, making a sharp turn to align with the runway right before touchdown.)
Now that I look at the map, I think it was these were indeed JFK 13L flights I was noticing. I always forget how "east" and "west" on the Manhattan grid aren't really east and west on a proper map. So I think the flights were actually headed southeast toward JFK 13L, not northeast toward LGA 4 as I previously thought.
And yes, they were definitely loud (that's why I noticed them).