[NYguy]

http://nypost.com/2014/01/08/gov-cuo...wark-airports/

Gov. Cuomo to call for state control of JFK, LaGuardia airports


By Tara Palmeri
January 8, 2014

Gov. Cuomo on Wednesday will call for the Port Authority to give up control of stalled renovation projects at Kennedy and LaGuardia and place them under the command of the state, sources told The Post.

Cuomo will make the announcement during his State of the State address in the Capitol.

Cuomo hinted Tuesday during a press conference in Albany with Vice President Joe Biden that he was going to intercede to speed up upgrades at the city’s airports. Biden complained that the nation’s transit hubs are falling apart.

“The most modern airports and ports are in other parts of the world,” the veep said, and Cuomo agreed.

“You’re exactly right about the airports. Even here in New York, LaGuardia and JFK are inexcusable, frankly, that they haven’t been redeveloped to keep pace with the best international airports. That’s something we’re going to attend to,” Cuomo told Biden.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...07101948275962

New La Guardia Terminal Poses Stress Test
Many Have Long Wanted a Replacement for La Guardia Airport's Central Terminal Building and Now May Get It


By Ted Mann
Jan. 7, 2014

Travelers, commentators and politicians have long clamored for a replacement for La Guardia Airport's Central Terminal Building, and the multibillion project is slated to move forward this spring with the selection of a winning team of bidders to rebuild and operate the facility.

But while work on the terminal should help travelers at one of the country's busiest airports, the complexity and difficulty of the project will pose a challenge for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, according to individuals familiar with the behind-the-scenes discussions on the project's design and financing.

It will be, one individual familiar with the effort said, "the most complicated construction project in the country" when primary work begins, sometime after a winning bidder is selected in April or May.

An airline industry official put it differently. For airlines that operate in the terminal during a construction project that could take seven years or longer—not to mention travelers who will see airport roads and parking disrupted—it will be "a nightmare," this person said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo hinted Tuesday that he would address improvements to La Guardia and Kennedy International Airport in his state of the state address on Wednesday, calling conditions at the two airports "inexcusable."

While Mr. Cuomo's remark suggested a desire to take political ownership of the long-planned project to improve the facilities, work at La Guardia has long been under way. The Port Authority's board has already committed more than $600 million in construction funds and begun some site work critical to the terminal project, including a power substation that Mr. Cuomo toured on the anniversary of superstorm Sandy.

The work that remains, however, will test the ability of construction, airline operations and finance partners alike, people on all sides of the discussions said this week.

The authority is in negotiations with four teams of bidders on the design and financing of the terminal, which the authority hopes to remake as a 35-gate expanse that can handle 17.5 million passengers a year by 2030, roughly half of the airport's expected traffic that year. But to do so, the winning bidder will have to demolish the existing 1964 terminal building and build a replacement in a tightly constrained footprint, while continuing to operate a functioning terminal for millions of annual customers at the city's primary airport for business travel.

The authority has said the project could cost around $3.6 billion. People familiar with the discussions on the scope and financing predicted the final price tag could grow larger, although the total cost figure and schedule are unclear.

The new terminal will be built on the area of roadways, ramps and parking facilities that sits between the existing terminal and the Grand Central Parkway.

La Guardia's Central Terminal Building "is widely acknowledged to be one of the worst terminals in the country, and the pictures of overcrowding there we saw this week were just the latest example of the problem," said Joseph Sitt, chairman of the Global Gateway Alliance, which advocates improvements to the region's airports. "Turning the CTB into a 21st century terminal will be a huge step in changing both the perception and the reality of New York area airports."