The proposed lease provides
for construction of a
brand-new international terminal
on the site previously
occupied by existing Terminals
1 and 2 and an aircraft
parking area previously occupied
by Terminal 3 at an estimated
cost of approximately
$7.4 billion. The New Terminal
One will open in stages
through 2025, with the existing
facilities remaining in operation
to limit the impact on
customers.
“The Port Authority’s
board authorization today
shows important progress toward
the agency’s mission
to ensure a 21st century customer
experience by transforming
our legacy assets into
modern gateways,” said Port
Authority Chairman Kevin
O’Toole. “The New Terminal
One is one of the major pillars
of the redevelopment of
the new JFK and builds on the
success of the newly restored
TWA hotel which opened earlier
this year.”
The plans for JFK began on
a very cold winter day in January
2017, Governor Cuomo and
Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz joined a press
conference for the ground
breaking of the TWA Hotel
at JFK. During his speech,
Cuomo brought up the idea
of a new infrastructure plan
for JFK saying, “It is a great
start, what you are seeing today.
But it is only the first step.
The State of NY will pledge $1
billion to partnerships to rebuild
JFK in partnership with
other airlines in other terminals
to build the greatest airport
on the planet because
that is what NY deserves.” It
was a surprise to many there
at the ceremony. There was no
mention of the details. . Well,
now only a couple of months
away from the actual ground
breaking of the Terminal One,
the details are quite extensive
and the total airport project
now stands at over $13 billion
dollars. TOGA leadership of
Terminal One sought private
investors for the upcoming
development since their terminal
lease was soon ending
responding to the Port’s goal
of rebuilding the state’s infrastructure
and airports in
particular, through the usage
of Public Private Partnership
(P3), which is in full effect.
These opportunities for development
AIRPORT V 16 OICE, DECEMBER 2019
by private investors
with the backing of the State
has been the foundation for
LaGuardia, Newark and JFK
airports. Understanding the
tremendous opportunities for
private development, the Governors
of NY and NJ understand
the need for community
economic development and involvement
of diversity in the
construction and future daily
business development at the
airports.
Efforts are now underway
to realize these objectives and
many workshops and public
outreach to include the communities
in the eventual prosperity
of the investments.
In October 2018, Governor
Cuomo created the JFK
Redevelopment Community
Advisory Council to advance
community-focused programs
throughout the airport’s
redevelopment specifically
related to a variety of
community benefits including
job opportunities, small
business outreach and development,
education for Queens
residents, and environmental
stewardship. The Advisory
Council is co-chaired by Representative
Gregory Meeks
and Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz and is
composed of elected officials,
community boards, nonprofit
organizations, civic organizations
and clergy leaders in
the targeted communities of
Southeast Queens, Southwest
Queens, the Rockaways and
Western portions of Nassau
County.
Since its inception, the Advisory
Council has been working
with the Port Authority to
expand community outreach
efforts, ensuring that this ambitious
project solicits ongoing
feedback from local stakeholders
and provides meaningful
opportunities for local businesses,
Minority and Women
Owned Business Enterprises
(MWBE) and job seekers. This
includes a commitment to the
Governor’s nation-leading
goal of 30 percent utilization of
MWBEs, which applies to all
aspects of the Redevelopment.
Last month the Advisory
Council unveiled the first of a
series of initiatives targeting
job opportunities, business opportunities,
and training and
education initiatives to benefit
the local communities around
JFK Airport: a commitment
for The New Terminal One to
reserve 50% of concessions
for New York and Queens local
businesses; an initiative to
match both construction and
airport operations jobs with
local Queens residents; a new
second chance program to
ensure opportunities for formerly
incarcerated Queens
residents; and a new program
brings science and technology
to life with an aviation focus
for Queens students grades
1-12.
In the months ahead, the
Advisory Council will continue
to hold public meetings
on a regular basis at which the
Port Authority, the terminal
developers, committee members
and other community
members discuss additional
strategies and programs to
provide more opportunities
for local businesses, job seekers
and students interested in
aviation.
Cuomo’s JFK Vision
Plan calls for an overhaul of
the airport’s hodgepodge of
eight disparate terminal sites
into one unified JFK Airport
by demolishing old terminals,
utilizing vacant space,
and modernizing on-airport
infrastructure, while incorporating
the latest in passenger
amenities and technological
innovations. The Vision
Plan also calls for increasing
the number and size of gates,
improving parking availability,
an array of airside taxiway
improvements to allow
for bigger planes and reduced
gate congestion, upgrading
the AirTrain JFK system to
handle increased passenger
capacity, and enhanced roadways
on and off the airport,
particularly the Van Wyck
Expressway and the Grand
Central Parkway, including
the Kew Gardens Interchange.
An early sign of realizing
the governor’s vision, in May
the TWA Hotel located just
outside Terminal 5 opened its
doors to the public creating
3,000 construction jobs and
roughly 795 hotel jobs. Half
of the hotel’s employees are
from Queens and half of those
are from the communities
neighboring JFK. Seventyeight
percent of the hotel staff
are minorities and 51% are
women. In addition to the new
airport infrastructure, steps
are in place to ease the congestion
of traffic for both passengers
and important trucking
for the airport cargo industry.
Off airport, the New York
State Department of Transportation
has targeted $1.5
billion in highway improvements
designed to ease bottlenecks,
particularly at the Kew
Gardens Interchange with the
Van Wyck Expressway and
on the notoriously congested
Van Wyck as well. The goal
is to help reduce travel times
for vehicles between midtown
Manhattan and the airport including:
The Kew Gardens Interchange
-Originally built in the
1930s–with the Grand Central
Parkway and the Van Wyck
Expressway still contains a series
of ramps that do not meet
today’s standards. Improvements
to eliminate bottleneck
conditions are expected to be
complete by the end of 2022.
VanWyck Development.
On the Van Wyck itself, the
4.3-mile trip between the Kew
Gardens Interchange and JFK
airport can take more than a
half hour during peak times.
To improve the situation, the
DOT is planning to build a
fourth lane in both directions,
which would be restricted to
passenger vehicles with three
or more people and for-hirevehicles
with at least one passenger.
The environmental approval
process is underway,
and construction is slated to
finish by the end of 2024.
JFK Airtrain
With respect to mass transit,
the Port Authority will be
adding 50 percent capacity to
the AirTrain JFK system as
well as increasing frequency
of service to keep up with rising
demand. More than 7.6
million paid passengers used
the system in 2017, with another
12.6 million more riding
it to connect between terminals
and access ground transportation.
Additionally, at Jamaica
Station the Long Island
Rail Road is constructing a
new, 12-car platform that will
increase capacity for those
traveling to and from JFK.
As of now with the first
new lease agreement in place,
the monumental task of rebuilding
JFK Airport while
maintaining the everyday operations
is on the minds of all
involved. But with the experience
of LaGuardia rebuilding,
many feel there were lessons
learned and that the construction
at JFK will move forward
with the continued collaboration
between the Port Authority
and stakeholders.
Continued from page 1
In October 2018, Port Executive Director Rick Cotton congratulated Arthur
Molins of TOGA as choice for one half of JFK terminals development.
JFK Redevelopment smiles. CAG Holdings of Termonal One Gerrard Bushell,
American Airlines Darryl Towns, JetBlue Millenium Partners ATI Partners
Bill Thompson.
New JFK T1