AirTrain LGA Community Benefits Fact Sheet
AIRPORT VOICE, MAY 2021 3
Jobs creation, local
hiring, Flushing Bay
Promenade & parks
improvements,
• $23 million for significant enhancements
of the Flushing Bay Promenade
including improvements to landscaping,
pathway, and railings, new
park facilities and public activity areas,
extensive improvements to bridge
crossings into the park; improved pedestrian
and bicycle connectivity to
the park; addition of bicycle and pedestrian
lanes; new gatherings areas;
new drinking fountains; addressing
community concerns regarding cleanliness.
• At least $20 million in additional
funds for capital improvements in the
broader Flushing Meadows Corona
Park and parks in adjacent community
districts.
• $7.5 million in dedicated funding
to support enhanced maintenance of
the Promenade for 15 years, exceeding
basic upkeep, to improve the cleanliness
of the promenade.
• Funding for up to 5,000 new trees
as part of AirTrain tree remediation
planted in the local project area (Promenade,
Flushing Meadows Corona
Park, elsewhere in Queens Community
District 3
• Up to $75,000 per year during construction
for programming in local
parks in collaboration with East Elmhurst
Corona Civic Association.
Economic benefits and job
creation:
• The project will deliver more than
$500 million in contracting opportunities
for minority and women-owned local,
Queens based businesses.
• Creation of approximately 3,000
union construction jobs, with a
focus on minority and women for
construction employment opportunities.
• The project has set a target of 80
percent local hiring for new permanent
AirTrain operations and maintenance
jobs for residents within communities
in the local project ares.
• The project will implement multiple
workforce development programs
such as training for union apprenticeships
and job referral programs to see
that local residents are trained for jobs
that long outlast the project by funding
(a) 75 new pre-apprenticeship seats in
coordination with the Building & Construction
Trades Council of Greater NY
and the Apprenticeship Readiness Collective
to provide a pathway to union
apprenticeship positions, with a priority
for local residents; and (b) the expansion
of the CAO LaGuardia Career
Center from 2022-2025, in partnership
with Elmcor and Queens Neighborhood
Housing Services, to match local
residents with permanent AirTrain operations
and maintenance jobs, in addition
to the onairport operations, maintenance,
and concessions jobs.
Educational benefits:
• The project will continue to invest
in the community by funding (a) youth
STEM programming for 700 students
over four years, (b) additional funding
for the
LaGuardia Redevelopment Opportunity
Scholarship program which
provides fulltuition college scholarships
during the project for local students,
with paid summer internships
and job placement post-graduation,
and (c) other educational and community
events.
Community impact
mitigations:
• The project will offer compensation
based on evaluations by independent,
third party real estate professionals
to property owners with
significantly impacted views identified
in the Final EIS(estimated at approximately
$4 million in total). The project
will also allocate $2 million for community
beautification projects within
the affected area identified in the Final
EIS, as prioritized by Queens Community
Board 3.
• The project will take an innovative
and accountable approach to alleviate
construction impacts, including
the installation of specific air quality,
noise, and vibration monitors to be located
in the community and around
the construction site during construction.
An ongoing community engagement
process will be in place throughout
construction to ensure all concerns
are addressed.
Environmental benefits:
• Once in operation, AirTrain La-
Guardia is projected to reduce traffic
on local streets and highways by millions
of vehicles per year – reducing
traffic congestion and vehicle emissions
significantly.
• The agency will install new solar
energy panels on all new rooftops created
by the
AirTrain program.
EWR AirTrain project
advances
RFP issued to four teams
The Port announced the agency has issued
a Request for Proposals (RFP) to four industryleading
teams that have been shortlisted to
compete for a contract to design, build, operate
and maintain a new 21st century, world-class
AirTrain at Newark Liberty International
Airport.
Liberty AirTrain Partners
(Skanska USA Civil Northeast Inc., SNCLavalin
Project Services Inc., COWI North
America, Inc. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
America, Inc.)
Liberty Integrated Connectors
(Dragados USA Inc., Halmar International
LLC, Schiavone Construction Co. LLC, HDR
Engineering, Inc., and BYD Transit Solutions
LLC)
Liberty Mobility Express
(Kiewit Infrastructure Co., Tully Construction
Co. Inc., AECOM USA Inc., and Alstom
Bombardier Transportation (Holdings) USA
Inc.
Tutor Perini/Parsons JV
(Tutor-Perini Corporation, Parsons Construction
Group, Inc., and DCCCA1 Inc. (Doppelmayr)
LGA AirTrain project
Awaits final FAA approval
BY BILL PERRY
As the $2 billion LaGuardia
AirTrain proposal awaits final
federal approval later this month,
which will clear the way for construction
to begin this summer,
the Port Authority is touting the
project’s community benefit as an
economic engine.
The project, connecting the airport
with transit options at Willets
Point, will deliver more than $500
million in contracting opportunities,
with a focus on minority- and
women-owned businesses as well
as contracting opportunities for
Queens-based businesses while
creating approximately 3,000
union construction jobs. The project
will also implement multiple
workforce development programs
such as training for union apprenticeships
and job referral initiatives
to see that local residents are
trained for jobs.
Among the many community
benefits to come with AirTrain
LaGuardia, the Port Authority
has set a goal of hiring 80 percent
of the project’s permanent workforce
locally,” a Port Authority
spokesperson said. “The successor
local hiring at JFK AirTrain
demonstrates the project’s potential
to provide real economic benefits
to the communities around
LaGuardia, including local,
Queens-based and M/WBE businesses.
The project will also fund
investments in educational opportunities,
community events and
local parks.”
AirTrain JFK is considered to
be an economic success story not
just for local community members
finding job opportunities, but finding
significant career advancement.
Of the initial group of hires
nearly 19 years ago, AirTrain JFK
staff have advanced within the organization
and outside it. Several
have gone on to run airport “people
movers” around the world and
around the nation. Others have
gone on to senior jobs in regional
transit agencies.
When Bombardier was originally
contracted to design, build,
operate and maintain AirTrain
JFK in 2001 it hired applicants
along the route from Jamaica to
Howard Beach. Of the first 135
employees hired, 90 percent lived
in neighboring communities. Of
those initial employees, 22 percent
remain with AirTrain JFK, with
two rising to the position of director,
including Shameeka Brown-
Richardson of Jamaica.
Rendering of proposed Newark Airport AirTrain
The Port Advisory Committee for the Flushing Bay Promenade improvements include
(L-By bike and mask) Yadiel Diaz-Rivera, partner at Marvel design firm for
the Promenade, and to his right ih sportscoat, Tom Grech, President of the Queens
Chamber of Commerce. They and the others were reviewing the list of community
benefitst that will be received from the development of the LGA AirTrain.