WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES AUGUST 19, 2021 5
A rendering of the proposed LaGuardia AirTrain.
LaGuardia AirTrain
will not be derailed by
Cuomo’s resignation
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The $2.1 billion LaGuardia AirTrain
project will not be derailed by Governor
Andrew Cuomo’s resignation amid the
sexual harassment allegations made
against him, according to the Port
Authority, which confi rmed with QNS
that it plans to move forward with construction
on the 1.5-mile-long light rail
system connecting LaGuardia Airport
to the transportation hub next to Citi
Field in Willets Point.
“The Port Authority is committed
to building both the new LaGuardia
AirTrain and a new Newark Airport
AirTrain as part of the agency’s priority
to provide environmentally friendly
mass rail transit links to its airports,” a
Port Authority spokesman told QNS.
“Both are priority projects in the Port
Authority’s capital plan, which was approved
by the board in September 2019.”
The Federal Aviation Administration
gave the green light to the project last
month, but the approval process was
a turbulent one with objections raised
by elected offi cials, community groups
and environmental organizations, such
as Riverkeeper. These critics were
emboldened to learn that hours aft er
Cuomo announced he would step down,
dozens of Port Authority staff members
demanded a halt to the proposed
AirTrain to LaGuardia Airport and an
investigation into “undue infl uence”
from the governor’s offi ce, according
to the Daily News.
“For too long, Governor Cuomo
and his staff have repeatedly pushed
the agency to make non-transparent,
Courtesy of the governor’s offi ce
politically motivated decisions, including
decisions that squander the truth
and money of our bondholders, customers
and the general public,” they wrote
and called on the Port Authority to
“halt all projects pushed by Governor
Cuomo’s offi ce, particularly the LaGuardia
AirTrain.”
Riverkeeper had raised numerous
concerns about the project’s
environmental review, which avoided
consideration of potentially superior
transit alternatives. If allowed to move
forward, they said, AirTrain construction
would require the condemnation
of waterfront parkland along Malcolm
X Promenade on Flushing Bay in East
Elmhurst.
“It’s telling that even those within the
ranks of the Port Authority are alleging
undue infl uence over the project and
calling it a waste of money,” Riverkeeper
Senior Attorney Mike Dulong said.
“That they had to wait until six years
aft er it was initially proposed shows a
culture of disingenuousness and fear
of retaliation within the agency. It was
brave of those staff members to come
forward.”
While the Port Authority would not
comment specifi cally on the letter to
its executive director Rick Cotton, the
spokesman said, “The policy of the Port
Authority is that every concern reported
by an employee is taken and treated
seriously. This will be no exception.”
Cuomo was planning to host a ribboncutting
ceremony to launch the construction
of the project in the coming
weeks. That plan was scuttled as he will
instead resign on Aug. 24 and hand the
reins of power to Lieutenant Governor
Kathy Hochul.
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