Friday, March 20, 2015

LaGuardia hangars being demo'ed

From the Queens Gazette:

It’s a sight that has probably brought a smile to the face of Vice President Joe Biden. Demolition of the historic American and United Airlines hangars are in full swing as the transformation of La Guardia Airport has begun.

According to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey the demolition of two of the six hangars, (numbers two and four), which began last week, are coming down at a cost of $22.9 million because they are very out of date and serve little function to the airport. They are also on land that could be used for airport redevelopment, namely the future Central Terminal Building. The current one is also slated for demolition.

At the time of their construction, the hangars were the largest of their kind built in the world. They are still operated by the original tenants, American Airlines and United Airlines, and are used for airfreight rather than as maintenance shops, which were their original purpose.

The facelift to the airport, which opened in December 1939, is expected to be finished by 2021.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

NYC has no sense of history! Those were wonderful buildings that could have been repurposed!

Anonymous said...

What is the Joe Biden reference?

I hope taking them down prevents future plane's from skidding off the runway!

Anonymous said...

Joe Biden said La Guardia was an airport of a third world country. He got that quote from Trump, who first said it like 2 years ago or something. Both bozzo's if you ask me. They have no sense of history or architectural education. They don't even help neighborhoods in Queens or NYC get revitalized, beautified or protected by zoning changes to protect our neighborhoods from looking like third world countries. (from such things as overdevelopment, fedder specials, ugly buildings, lack of gardens and greenery, lack of cleanliness from store owners, buildings owners and so on) They should help out our neighborhoods instead of picking on an airport that is fully functioning and those hangers could of been used and even somehow incorporated into a new design. But spend $22 million to demolish and loss history and fill our landfills and pollute our air! Every single politician involved in the future and evolution of NYC completely sucks right now.

Anonymous said...

The biggest problem is ourselves.

Every time someone stands up to stop the madness the rest will cut their throat to get ice cream money ... and a smile... from the pols.

Until that changes, nothing will change.

Alan said...

Anonymous said...
NYC has no sense of history! Those were wonderful buildings that could have been repurposed!
_______________________________________________

So true. Just like Bloomturd knocked down the historic pre-WWII hangars at Flushing Airport. They weren't in good shape but could have been repurposed as well. Queens had amazing aviation facilities that will probably never be known by future generations. Anyone heard of Holmes Airport???

Anonymous said...

Anyone heard of Holmes Airport???
....................................................
Actually, I heard it here first!!!

http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2009/05/when-jackson-heights-had-airport.html

Anonymous said...

I don't know what a bozzo is? You must be from Bayside

Anonymous said...

Maybe your a bozzo

a retired air traffic controller said...

The whole airport is out of date. All efforts to modernize it just create too many flights being crammed in and adding to the dangerous conditions that already exist there. Remember runway #13? How many people died in the bay in the 1990s when a plane skidded off of it?

Jerry Rotondi said...

LOL! It should have been landmarked. C'mon, Queens can only boast about the history that has been , and is being systematically, destroyed here.

Anonymous said...

Both of those airlines have outlived their competitive edge and formery good service offered to passengers. Tear down their old garages! Hey, turn La Guardia into a military airport.....full of Tomcats, stealth fighters, etc. that way Queens will be a nice secure borough.

Anonymous said...

NO...Queens borough presidents have no sense of history. The rest of New York fares far better, #1 poster. Donald Manes said, "Queens has nothing but land to offer" . He intended to build over every bit of it. This credo was continued by his apt accomplice, Claire Shulman, etc. etc. etc. You think Melinda Katz gives a hard turd about history? Think again! She was put in office by developers' money and the stupid voters of our borough. Now Queens' residents can only sit back and enjoy the butt f-----g that they're getting. Isn't that our station in life?

Anonymous said...

Jackson Heights once had an airport. It was called Holmes Airport. It's gone. It was outmoded. I believe it was located within the current historic district. And so time moves on.

Anonymous said...

Jackson Heights once had an airport. It was called Holmes Airport. It's gone. It was outmoded. I believe it was located within the current historic district. And so time moves on.
-------------------------------------------------------
You obviously don't bother to read previous posts before you write.

Anonymous said...

Just pulling your leg, dumbo. But as a Queens resident I can be proud of I cannot read or write any posts. All I have to do is vote for the candidate of the Democratic machine's choice. There will be a "poll watcher" to "guide me" on the right choice if my English is wanting.

Anonymous said...

shame. The hangars were the only structures on the grounds that are Architecturally interesting.

Anonymous said...

Architecturally interesting? By Queens' standards maybe. CRAP is what they are. The Marine Air terminal is the only piece of architecture worth being proud of.