New York State announced a $4 billion overhaul of LaGuardia Airport that will completely remake the facility that US vice president Joe Biden once likened to a “third world country.”
- The airport, long considered cramped and overcrowded, will have 240% more space.
- New connections to the airport, currently accessible by car and bus, will include a rail link and high-speed ferry.
- Delta Air Lines, which maintains a hub at the airport, has approved the plan and will rebuild its terminals. (The fate of the Marine Air Terminal, an official historic building, is unclear.)
- It will be the first new airport built in the United States since the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The long-discussed project is expected to break ground in 2016 and take three years to complete—before the inevitable delays and cost overruns. “It is actually happening,” New York governor Andrew Cuomo said in announcing the plan.
Detailed renderings weren’t immediately available, but it appeared that LaGuardia’s runways would remain the same and the construction would happen around them. Here are two screenshots from a video that was played at the press conference:
Here’s a screenshot of the imagined ferry terminal:
Biden was on hand for the announcement of the project. He referenced his now infamous comments about LaGuardia’s “third-world status” and praised the plan to revitalize the facility. ”New York deserves a better airport, and its future demands it,” Biden said.