Transportation
New LaGuardia Terminal B
is hit with passengers on first
day of operation
BY JEFF YAPALATER
“Wow” was the word from many travel-ers’
mouths as they walked to their depar-ture
at LaGuardia Airport’s new Terminal
B, on Dec. 1.
This is the first new terminal in New York
in decades, and from the looks of things
on the first day, the travelers loved it. You
could see how Commercial Chief Officer
Ed Baklor feels about the 90,000-square-foot,
state-of-art building, which has an airy,
roomy, clean, modern and comfortable feel.
He was proud of the efforts by all in-volved
in bringing this terminal to reality.
The terminal is filled with unique conces-sions,
mouth-watering restaurants and
specialty markets.
According to a spokesperson, much
of the interior is based on the feel of New
York. Many of the restaurants are native NY
locations and concessions include an FAO
Schwartz, a Bookstore, MAC Cosmetics
from the Hudson Group, and the popular
Shake Shack, which was mobbed on the
first day. SoHo-based independent book-seller
McNally Jackson, Hudson, LaGuardia
Dufry Duty Free Shops, M•A•C, District
Market – with specialty Made in Queens
products – and Spa Here have retail shops
that line the wide and easy-to-maneuver
concourse.
However not every fun thing costs
money. There is a free, cool feature which is
the kids creative design aviation wall. Here
children (or adults) can use a computer
to design an aircraft; once finished, the
created plane can been seen on a huge
animated wall with the children’s named
aircraft taking off and flying around the
airport.
For the traveler in search of zen or
relaxation, the concourse has an indoor
park modeled after Queens-area parks
with a great relaxing view of the airplane
runways. Travelers can also take the grand
escalator up to the second floor, where the
brand-new Air Canada Lounge just opened,
to have an impressive view of the entire
concourse, gates and tarmac.
The eastern concourse of the new Ter-minal
B has 11 gates serving American,
Air Canada and Southwest Airlines. United
Airlines will follow next year as the other
side of the terminal wing is completed.
The new terminal showcases Governor
Andrew Cuomo’s vision to build a unified,
21st-century airport that is a leader in guest
experience, innovation and sustainability
with its airy, wide and concession-filled
concourse.
Cuomo actually thanked former Vice
President Joe Biden for his remark on
LaGuardia being like a third world nation.
Cuomo said this motivated him to pursue
a plan to rebuild LaGuardia. Cuomo not
40 DECEMBER 2018 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
built the vision but has also launched re-development
of JFK Airport which is now
in the beginning stages of a $13 billion
dollar rehab.
“The opening of the new eastern con-course
at Terminal B is just the first step
in our mission to provide a top-class visitor
experience at LaGuardia, worthy of the
greatest city in the world,” said Stewart
Steeves, CEO of LaGuardia Gateway Part-ners
(LGP). “Our concourse’s innovative
design, inclusive atmosphere, and choice
food and retail options will bring LaGuardia
into the 21st century, and we’re proud to
work with both the governor and the Port
Authority to transform Terminal B into a
gateway New Yorkers can be proud of.”
LGP is comprised of Vantage Airport
Group, Skanska, Meridiam and JLC In-frastructure.
The “W” word was also used to de-scribe
Photo by Jeff Yapalater/Airport Voice
one of the more important areas
of the terminal, the restrooms. Travelers
were wowed by the clean tiled look, live
orchids on the wide shelf for holding
small personal items by the mirrors,
and the unique spacious stalls which
are shaped and large enough to bring
in a personal roller bag. This impressed
more than a few flyers.
Said Robert G. from Detroit, “ I arrived
at another terminal here at LaGuardia, and
was not happy with the condition. It was
dumpy compared to Detroit Airport. But
when I walked into this new building, wow,
I was amazed. This is amazing.”
He was not alone in this reaction. An-other
couple flying to Newfoundland via
Air Canada actually took pictures of the
bathrooms to show their friends at home.
/www.qns.com
