Thursday, April 16, 2015

The TWA hotel?

From the Wall Street Journal:

JetBlue Airways Corp. is angling to get into the hotel business, joining the growing ranks of developers and investors looking for lodging opportunities inside major U.S. airports.

The low-cost airline and its partner, New York-based hotel developer MCR Development LLC, are in advanced negotiations with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for the rights to turn the iconic Trans World Airlines terminal at Kennedy Airport into a modern hotel, according to people familiar with the matter.

Talks could still fall apart, these people said, but the MCR and JetBlue partnership has emerged as the preferred bidder and is in exclusive discussions with the Port Authority. MCR would be the majority investor.

5 comments:

Jackson Heights Johnny said...

I must admit that Jet Blue is my preferred airline whenever my wife and I fly anywhere. They may not have the most spacious planes, but I have never had a bad flight, and the service is always friendly and helpful.

But I digress.. I believe that this is a good thing for the old and venerable terminal. Rather than tear it down, if it could be turned into a reasonably priced (like Jet Blue's airfare prices)hotel, this SHOULD be a good thing for travelers.

Middle Villager said...

What a magnificent building. Being a child when this opened, I can remember the excitement of going there the first time. This structure captured the thrill of flight just walking in. It was a special time, the space program had just started, airlines were switching from props to jets and people had bon voyage parties at the terminal cocktail lounge ( it was a far cry from today's security lines and sardine seating). Going on to work there for ten years ( until Carl Icahn brought TWA to its knees) I would rather see a museum about the airlines there, I think a hotel would be fine as long as the building keeps its exterior. Please,Please, Please don't screw with it.

Anonymous said...

Hope the Mayor doesn't grab it for the homeless.

Anonymous said...

How can a hotel be viable in this lot with the height restrictions of being so near runways?

Anonymous said...

Yesterday I posted on the site Welcome to Whitestone about not hearing a word about this from Vallone , and how he was in the developers' pocket, as witnessed by his nasty ads sponsored by REBNY. My post was deleted and all subsequent posts were deleted. This is supposed to be a "civic association" but obviously if one has a criticism of our councilman the toadies who run this site will shut you down. I urge any of you who post on that site to see what happens if you mention Vallone in anything less than a positive light.