FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 3, 2022 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Renovation of LGA Airport’s Terminal B now complete
Historic Jackson Heights White Castle closes its doors
BY JULIA MORO
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Aft er almost 87 years in business,
the White Castle located on Northern
Boulevard in Jackson Heights permanently
closed its doors on Wednesday, Jan. 26.
The restaurant, located at 88-08
Northern Blvd., fi rst opened on Aug. 1,
1935. According to Jamie Richardson,
a vice president at White Castle, the
Jackson Heights location has been
struggling with sales.
“As a family-owned business that’s been
around for 100 years, one of the
things we’ve learned is
that every Castle has
diff erent cost structures,
challenges
and opportunities,”
Richardson
said. “We reached
a point with rising
costs and increasing
uncertainty as we
continue to encounter
the pandemic where we
made the tough call to close
this one location.”
White Castle, best known for its squareshaped
sliders, has six other locations
around Queens and does not plan to close
any of the other stores. Th e employees at
the Jackson Heights location have been
off ered ongoing employment with White
Castle and are continuing to work at the
nearby chains.
“Deciding to close a Castle is
one of the toughest decisions
we ever made,” Richardson
said. “It’s an amazing feat in the
restaurant world when any location, any
type of cuisine, lasts 10 years or more. To
have an over 86-year run from a fast food
restaurant operating on the same corner
is unheard of.”
Ultimately, Richardsons said that
the decision came down to protecting
their over 10,000 employees across
14 states.
“We do this because if we make good
decisions we can invest in retirement
programs for our team members, continue
providing health insurance and all
the other pay, perks and benefi ts that
make White Castle a great place to work,”
Richardson said.
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
State and city leaders celebrated the
completion of LaGuardia Airport’s $4 billion
renovation of Terminal B Th ursday,
Jan. 27.
Th e airport once described by President
Joe Biden as something out of a “thirdworld
country” has transformed into an
award-winning fl ight hub, according to
Governor Kathy Hochul.
“We have literally gone from worst to
best and I love it,” Hochul said during a
Jan. 27 press conference. “Th is is just a
statement of who we are. We know we’re
the best. We know we’re the best, but
sometimes you need the places to speak
that loudly as well, and this place shouts it
from the mountaintops.”
Th e Port Authority of New York and
New Jersey’s private contractors fi nished
Terminal B’s revamp, which features 1.35
million square feet of new facilities, 35
gates, a 3,000-car parking garage, and
newly covered pick-up areas for taxis and
ride-shares.
It is part of a massive $8 billion reconstruction
of the Queens airport launched
by former Governor Andrew Cuomo in
2015, which also included the now up-inthe
air plans for a rail connector.
Located at the western side of the airport,
the new terminal has opened in
phases in recent years, with the fi rst of
18 new gates and the fi rst new concourse
welcoming passengers in late 2018.
Th e complete airport project is twothirds
funded by private companies and
Terminal B was developed by a consortium
dubbed LaGuardia Gateway
Partners, which includes Vantage Airport
Group, Skanska, Meridiam and JLC
Infrastructure.
Delta Air Lines is working on overhauling
Terminal C to the east, which Port
Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton
said will wrap up this spring.
“Every single traveler coming to
Terminal B will now have a world-class
experience going from curb to gate or
from gate to curb,” Cotton said. “New
York at long last has the world-class gateway
that a world-class city and state
deserve.”
In December, Terminal B got the prestigious
UNESCO Prix Versailles award for
the best new airport in the world thanks
to its architecture and design.
Th e bi-state authority hit the brakes on
the $2.1 billion proposal for an AirTrain
to Mets-Willets Point in October at the
request of Hochul and convened a panel
of experts to review alternatives.
Photo courtesy of White Castle
Courtesy of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
LaGuardia’s new Terminal B.
Screenshot via Google Maps
White Castle, located at 88-08 Northern Blvd., has permanently closed.
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