'tinitnt ~tatcs ~cnatr 
WASHINGTON, DC 20510 
The Honorable Thomas Wheeler 
Chairman 
Federal Communications Commission 
445 Twelfth Street, S.W. 
Washington DC 20554 
Dear Mr. Chairman: 
July 1,2015 
We write to you extremely concerned about your proposal to close multiple agency field 
offices across the country. While we are pleased to hear that you have reduced your original 
proposal to shutter as many as 16 offices, we remain concerned about the adverse effects of 
closure of more than one third of total offices nationwide will have. The closure of these 
offices threatens your ability as an enforcement agency to prevent radio disruptions, while in 
our home state ofNew York, these disruptions can have major negative implications. 
Radio frequency disruptions can cause significant problems for citizens throughout New 
York, and especially in New York City. Recent complains filed with the Federal 
Communications Commission have shown there to be at least 34 pirate radio stations 
operating on rooftops in Brooklyn and in the Bronx alone. Pirate radio, and the interference 
that comes with it, can cause substantial public safety issues. That interference prevents 
listeners in New York and New Jersey from getting news, information and entertainment from 
their favorite radio station. More importantly, when interference occurs during an emergency, 
millions of people may not hear Emergency Alert System (EAS) alerts from licensed stations. 
We are aware of at least one station that has asked to change its EAS monitoring assignment 
because of interference from unauthorized operators to New York Public Radio's WNYC. 
Congress, through the FCC, has a1located radio stations in New York and across the country 
in a careful manner designed to avoid interference, but massive growth of pirate radio 
operations, particularly in New York City threatens to disrupt that careful distribution. 
Finally, pirate radio operations threaten legitimate businesses who are operating within the 
rules established by the FCC. While we recognize the FCC's efforts to address this issue, 
more needs to be done. We believe that this starts with recognizing that the closure of field 
offices will not be helpful to the overall goal of preventing these disruptions and ensuring 
public safety. We urge you to continue to use all possible enforcement tools to address this 
issue, and to devote what resources you can to help prevent these types of disruptions in New 
York. While we understand the FCC's resource challenges, we strongly believe preventing 
interference on radio frequencies is part of your central mission. 
Thank you for your continued work to protect consumers nationwide and we look forward to 
working with you on this important issue. 
CL--~ 
Charles E. Schumer 
United States Senator 
Kirsten Gillibrand 
United States Senator