C R Y D E R P O I N T 18JANUARY LaGuardia and JFK airport design contests take flight site begins transformation 18 CRYDER POINT COURIER | JANUARY 2015 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM THE COURIER/File photo The plan to modernize the borough’s airports is fi nally taking off. BY LIAM LA GUERRE The plan to modernize the borough’s airports is finally taking off. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is now accepting plans for the contests to redesign LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International airports, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo first announced back in October. Architects and designers can submit master plans for either or both airports. Final submissions are due on Jan. 30. Cuomo hopes the plans submitted will be “bold and comprehensive.” Within the competition guidelines, emphasis is placed on certain design expectations for each airport. Some interesting expectations mentioned include reviving ferry service to LaGuardia and creating an “Aerotropolis or Airport City” with office complexes, conference centers, and medical and warehousing facilities that have a nexus to JFK. “Modern and accessible infrastructure is key to growing our state’s economy, and with this plan we’re bringing New York’s outdated airports into the 21st century,” Cuomo said. “By reimagining them from the ground up, we’re making an investment that will strengthen our state for years into the future.” The Port of Authority board of commissioners will judge the contests. Following the Jan. 30 deadline, three finalists will be selected to make public presentations and each will receive up to $500,000 to further develop their plans. THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre Future Ridgewood brewery BY LIAM LA GUERRE A few days after announcing the leasing of a Ridgewood warehouse for the new home of Bridge and Tunnel Brewery, the owner has begun moving into his new digs. Queens native Rich Castagna, who founded a 150-square-foot Maspeth microbrewery a few years ago, has already moved some vats, many kegs and tons of other equipment into the 2,300-square-foot site of the brewery’s future home near the intersection of Decatur Street and Wyckoff Avenue. The father of three, who has a day job with a shipping company, is working on the brewery with a little help, but is aiming to set up and begin brewing from the new site within six months. “The priority is to get beer flowing out of the doors, because I have to offset the rent,” Castagna said. There is still much to be done with the new space though. Castagna is hoping to soon bring a boiler, two fermenters and two stem jacketed kettles into the brewing section, which will be located at the back of the building. The front part will become home to the bar and the tasting room. He already has long wooden beams in the site that he plans to fashion into tables. Following the expansion, he hopes to bring beer to new outlets that he couldn’t serve before because of the limited brewing capacity at the former site. “If I can get this thing up and running, there are a lot of other accounts that are frankly waiting in line for me to add them,” Castagna said. “In the nano system it’s kind of like I’m busting my pants. I’ve outgrown my school uniform.”
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