Delta Terminal C opens at LaGuardia
BY TODD MAISEL
After years of painful construction,
the new $3.9 billion upgrade to
Delta Terminal C at LaGuardia Airport
has taken flight.
Governor Andrew Cuomo personally
touted it Tuesday as a state-ofthe
art marvel that further moves
the airport away from a desultory
reputation.
The infamous Queens airport,
with its shabby atmosphere, persistent
delays, and unremitting construction
is a place city travelers
have come to hate. Back in 2014,
then-Vice President Joe Biden infamously
likened arriving there to
coming to a “third-world country.”
That spurred the state and Port
Authority of New York New Jersey
into action. Slowly but surely, construction
is moving along, with a
huge part of Terminal C completed
in the spring. The opening of the new
Terminal D, including a concourse,
has taken two years to complete.
Delta spent around $3.3 billion for
the redesign of the 105,000-squarefoot
terminal while the Port Authority
is spending about $600 million,
according to officials. The terminal
actually handles more departures
and arrivals than its sister terminal
at JFK – at 275 per day, according to
the Port Authority.
A total of $8 billion is expected to
be spent to upgrade the entire airport,
with a projected completion
date of 2026, which will include new
parking garages and roadways into
and out of the airport.
Cuomo was joined Tuesday by
Delta CEO Ed Bastian and Port
Authority Executive Director Rick
Cotton. A host of other local officials
and residents from Sunnyside,
Queens, joined the dedication and
ribbon cutting on the terminal.
Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard
even gave his best pitch for the airport,
noting that he and fellow ballplayers
often fly out of LaGuardia.
Cuomo dismissed critics who previously
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the completion of Terminal C at LaGuardia Airport Tuesday and cut a ribbon on the $3
billion terminal with Port Authority, Delta officials. He is also flanked on his left by Met’s ace pitcher Noah Syndergaard.
claimed it was “impossible”
to fix the problems at LaGuardia
Airport.
“The New York way is to never
believe anything is impossible,”
Cuomo said. “At a time when we are
in many ways adrift, have lost our
sense of confidence, and are in a
state of paralysis, what this project
says is ‘Yes, we can do these things.’
We are building more in New York
state than in any other state in the
country – period.”
Most impressive at the new Terminal
D is a seven-gate concourse that
sits on the water on the eastern side
of LaGuardia and boasts panoramic
views of both Flushing Bay and Citi
Field, home of the New York Mets.
The new concourse has many
amenities including restaurants,
bars, newsstands, a nursing room
and a relief room for dogs, popular
with travelers’ pups that are increasingly
flying with their owners.
There is also wider areas of seating,
outlets for power and phone charg-
Photo by Todd Maisel
Gov. Andrew Cuomo marked the opening of LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal D.
ing and bright new gate areas. Windows,
in some areas, look out at the
runways.
Employees and officials alike
gushed over the new terminal.
“It’s like Governor Cuomo said
during his opening remarks referencing
Biden, it was like a thirdworld
country that we worked in,”
said Camille Belesi, a 31-year flight
attendant for Delta Airlines. “It’s
just beautiful, new gates – it’s just
great.”
“I love it, it’s a very refreshing
addition to Delta Airlines,” added
Marika Liverpool, a Delta flight attendant
for nine years.
Sunnyside residents were equally
thrilled.
“I am very impressed because I
used to come to this airport and it
was like a third-world nation, but
now it surprised me and it is very
good for New York,” said Rosa Hardin.
“Thanks to Governor Cuomo,
we will have a new beautiful airport”
Photo by Todd Maisel
“The place was terrible,” added
Sarah Arico, also from Sunnyside.
“It’s so beautiful now and we
are right up there with the best of
them.”
What’s left, according to Cotton,
is to finish the main arrival and departure
hall, which are slated to open
2021 on the Delta side. Terminal B,
the large arrival and departure hall,
will be complete by the middle of
next year, and then soon after, work
will begin on a second concourse
scheduled to open in 2021.
The new proposed LaGuardia Air-
Train, Cotton added, is undergoing
an environmental review process
with the FAA in the lead. He said
that review should be complete by
2021 and then “we could put together
a construction schedule.”
The Port Authority board recently
approved a $2 billion budget
to build the LaGuardia AirTrain for
2024.
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