Cuomo's inconvenient LGA choo choo has been approved

  

Gothamist

 After years of discussions, a new—and controversial—$2.1 billion AirTrain will be built, connecting LaGuardia Airport with the LIRR and 7 train stations at Mets-Willets Point in eastern Queens.

The Federal Aviation Association approved the plan on Tuesday, giving the Port Authority permission to "proceed with its proposal to construct a rail system to provide a reliable transit option for air travelers and employees at LGA." The FAA also noted it held two virtual public workshops and three virtual public hearings last September, and that 18 "different federal, state and local agencies have provided input throughout the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process based on their expertise and authorities." (You can see the Final EIS here.)

Governor Andrew Cuomo called the plan a "reliable, efficient, and affordable transit connector worthy of its destination." He noted that years of work has led to this moment and that now, "as we come out of the COVID crisis, our state and our country have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to invest in a resilient, transformative, and interconnected future, and today's announcement is a testament to our 'all aboard' commitment to seizing it, in partnership with the Biden administration and Secretary Buttigieg."

While a mass transit option to LaGuardia has long been a goal, critics questioned Cuomo's particular plan because it actually takes travelers past the airport. In 2015, The Transport Politic created a map showing the routes of various connector plans and suggested that travel times actually increased with this plan.

Governor Cuomo's LaGuardia choo choo is getting expensive and ultimately useless.

NY Post


It’s off the rails.

The cost of the controversial LaGuardia Airport AirTrain project — which was originally priced at $450 million, then at $1.5 billion — is now estimated to be roughly $2 billion, Port Authority officials revealed Tuesday.
Officials insisted the 1.5-mile-long project will pay for itself — even as they simultaneously announced plans to increase fees on bridges, tunnels, railways and airport facilities.
But critics have panned the proposed service for its bizarre route, which goes past Citi Field instead of into Manhattan. And many travelers say they have no plans to use it.
“People like the privacy, the independence of being in their own cars,” said one commuter at the airport Tuesday.
“I’ll stick with my SUV. It’s worth it.”
In 2015, when Gov. Andrew Cuomo first proposed the route, his office said the AirTrain would cost just $450 million, but the authority said in 2017 that it would actually be $1.5 billion.
The latest estimate of $2.05 billion — which officials say reflects the going rate for new AirTrains — comes out to nearly $800,000 per yard.
The governor argues the AirTrain will provide traffic relief at the Queens airport, which is currently only accessibly by car, bus or foot.
Nearly 90% of travelers currently arrive by car compared to just 6% by public transit, according to Port Authority data.

But while half of LaGuardia travelers are Manhattan-bound, the train’s proposed route will carry travelers east to Willets Point — away from Manhattan — from where they will need to take the Long Island Rail Road or subway into the city.

Environmentalists are concerned about LGA plan

From AM-NY

Flushing Bay, once derided for its unseemly smell and murky waters, has started to make a comeback in recent years.

Thousands of people use it to practice and race dragon boats. Families stroll along the promenade, no longer repelled by the powerful rotten-egg smell known to permeate cars driving by on the Grand Central Parkway.

But advocates worry the slow but steady progress will be wiped out by a controversial proposal to build an AirTrain that links LaGuardia Airport with the subway and the Long Island Rail Road.

The first steps in the environmental review process are slated to start later this week, and advocates for the bay are hoping they will get an opportunity to be heard.

“I think it would really take away so much of the work we have been advocating for — clean water, increasing community access,” said Hillary Exter, an avid dragon boat racer and board member of Guardians of Flushing Bay, a watchdog group. “Building the AirTrain either in the water or along the promenade really destroys what is a tremendous resource for the city.”

Cuomo signs legislation authorizing AirTrain

From CBS 2:

A new plan to build an AirTrain to LaGuardia Airport has been given the green light and should be ready within four years.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the new measure approved last week by the New York State legislature advancing the AirTrain link project.

The Port Authority says a new AirTrain will link to the Long Island Rail Road and the subway system.

Air travelers could get from midtown Manhattan to the airport in 30 minutes.

The bill authoritizes the Port Authority to conduct an environmental impact study this summer for the $1.5 billion project. The Air Train will run from Willets Point in Queens, making two stops at the airport; East Station and Central Hall.

The plan is to have the Long Island Rail Road run express trains from both Penn Station and Grand Central to Willets Point, where there will be a seamless transfer.

Construction could begin in 2020 and is expected to be completed by 2022.

AirTrain will chip away more land from FMCP

From NBC:

Residents in northern Queens are crying foul over a plan to create an AirTrain to LaGuardia Airport. Roseanne Colletti reports.

Big hotel coming to downtown Jamaica

From AM-NY:

Downtown Jamaica has worked hard to reclaim its status as a destination for shoppers.

Now officials are hoping to make it a lively tourist hub, with plans for a dozen new hotels as well as residential towers and retail stores.

After decades of plans and proposals to revive the area, progress can be seen in two towers rising near Jamaica Station on Sutphin Boulevard.

One of those sites will hold a Fairfield Inn and Courtyard by Marriott with more than 300 rooms; and the other, a mixed income housing development.

Hope Knight, president of the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, said the group hopes to attract travelers who would otherwise stay in hotels outside John F. Kennedy Airport, where there is little for them to do.

“Being able to stay in downtown Jamaica is a competitive advantage,” said Knight, who pointed out the AirTrain, subway and Long Island Rail Road all stop at Jamaica Station. “And they can get to Downtown Brooklyn or Penn Station in 20 minutes.”

AirTrain is unnecessary spending

From the Village Voice:

At last week’s board meeting, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey unveiled its latest $32 billion, 10-year spending blueprint — a document carefully calibrated not to consider the region’s need for new infrastructure, but to appease governors on both sides of the Hudson.

The governors, of course, appoint the Port’s commissioners and, bridge scandals notwithstanding, continue to pull the strings at the authority. Unfortunately, using the Port Authority to dole out money to gubernatorial pet projects does nothing to help commuters stuck with a dysfunctional regional transportation system.

Two big examples show how the latest Christie-Cuomo spending plan got it all wrong.

First up: dubious airport rail projects favored by both governors are getting funded in a suspicious quid pro quo. Nearly $1.5 billion would go to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s LaGuardia-Willets Point AirTrain, which transit experts say will actually take longer than existing bus service.

Cuomo unveils plan for JFK overhaul

From AM-NY:

Governor Andrew Cuomo Wednesday unveiled a multi-billion dollar plan to rehabilitate Kennedy Airport as well as travel connections to the facility.

The three-pronged plan, completely reimagines the airport while also attempting to address access on roads and through mass transit.

The overhaul would come at the tune of about $10 billion, with around $7 billion coming from private investment.

It was put forth by Cuomo’s Airport Master Plan Advisory Panel, which is also overseeing the redevelopment of LaGuardia Airport, as a way to accommodate projected passenger increases.

The proposal would expand the newer terminals to meet growing passenger demands. Older terminals would be redeveloped and relocated to increase connectivity. The roads in the airport facility itself would be reworked create a less-complex circular route.

By car, Cuomo’s administration wants to widen connector ramps of the Van Wyck Expressway and Grand Central Parkway at the Kew Gardens Interchange to reduce bottlenecking. It would also add an additional lane in each direction to the Van Wyck. This would cost anywhere between $1.5 billion to $2 billion.

Cuomo said his administration was still deciding between two options to address mass transit access to the airport. One would focus solely on improving JFK AirTrain service and its links to the rest of the area’s transit network. This option would increase service frequency while also doubling the number of cars per train, from two to four. It would also bring a complete overhaul to the Jamaica transit hub to improve transferring to the AirTrain from the subway and LIRR.

Short-term Rockaway transit solution?

From Rockaway Post:

It’s not cheap, and you have to get to the Howard Beach station first. But it is a fast connection, and the easiest way into Manhattan when the A train is out of service.

This could be an interim solution, to be used in emergency situations: extend the Rockaway Park shuttle to Howard Beach, and allow riders to connect to the AirTrain for a reduced fare. Making this happen requires very little other than the cooperation of the MTA and the Port Authority. What do you say, Governor Cuomo?

Let's rethink that LGA AirTrain thing...

From AM-NY:

A new $450 million AirTrain to LaGuardia Airport from the Mets-Willets Point stop on the jam-packed No. 7 line wouldn't be worth the trip, transit advocates warned Wednesday.

"To put a new group of airport-bound travelers and their luggage on the already-overcrowded 7 line for 20 stops would be a disaster," said Andrew Albert, chairman of the Transit Riders Council and MTA board member. "You think the 7 is crowded now? Just wait."

The Mets-Willets Point stop would be the 20 station on the line if a rider boards at the new extension on 34th Street and 11th Avenue.

The MTA is modernizing the No. 7 train's signal system to run more trains in booming Queens, but the line is at 100% capacity during rush-hour.

Bringing tourists to Jamaica: good luck with that

From the NY Times:

A major stop on the AirTrain from Kennedy International Airport has long offered a troublesome first impression for travelers visiting New York.

Scarred by poverty, crime and blighted conditions, that transit hub in Jamaica, Queens, has generally been more of a place to contemplate from train platforms than to stroll through on the ground.

But sweeping plans are being made to rejuvenate the area with new hotels, stores and apartments, with hopes of persuading some of those travelers to step off the platform and stay a while.

“Our area has needed a face-lift for quite some time now,” said Adrienne Adams, the chairwoman of Queens Community Board 12 and a Jamaica resident for more than two decades. “And I think for the most part people will be quite pleased with the results.”

The effort to lure tourists is focused on a small slice of the area, around the intersection of Archer Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard.

Besides the AirTrain, the intersection is served by the Long Island Rail Road, three subway lines and more than a dozen bus routes. One result is the kind of bustling public transportation hub that has become catnip for developers who believe that people no longer want to be so dependent on their cars.

Reconstruction of LaGuardia's central terminal announced

From DNA Info:

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey voted Thursday to move ahead with the first phase of a $3.6 billion project to replace the crumbling Central Terminal Building, known as Terminal B, with a new facility which will serve approximately 50 percent of all the passengers at the airport, officials announced.

The agency also selected the LaGuardia Gateway Partners to build the new terminal.
The Central Terminal Building, which first opened in 1964, will be demolished. The replacement will serve as LaGuardia's main entry.

The project also calls for linking the airport’s four terminals, which are currently disconnected, and a number of amenities such as a hotel and business center and a connection to the proposed AirTrain.

A master plan for the redevelopment will be unveiled in the coming weeks, officials said.

According to the Port Authority, construction will be funded by a public-private partnership.

Julissa wants 24/7 connection at Willets Point

From DNA Info:

The Long Island Rail Road should operate 24/7 at Willets Point as part of the governor's proposed AirTrain to LaGuardia Airport to help workers get to their jobs and minimize congestion, according to a letter sent by Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras.

Ferreras, who represents the area and was an integral part of the plan to redevelop Willets Point, sent Gov. Andrew Cuomo a note about his AirTrain plan with suggestions that can help the community.

Those suggestions include renovation of the bridge that connects the 7 train and the LIRR as well as 24-hour service at the LIRR station, which is on the Port Washington branch.

LaGuardia getting an AirTrain?

From DNA Info:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans Tuesday to build a second AirTrain in Queens, connecting riders to LaGuardia Airport from the 7 train and Long Island Rail Road.

The plan calls for a 1.5-mile tram that runs along the Grand Central Parkway from the Willets Point 7 train and LIRR stations, Cuomo said.

"We just are in the initial planning phases of it," Cuomo said.

But then he said something which makes me wonder if he got the memo:

...the governor said he didn't think the project would face major problems because Willets Point is industrial and therefore not prone to "siting issues" that arise in residential neighborhoods, he said.

"It runs basically along the Grand Central Parkway. It's basically an industrial area. You're not talking about neighborhoods, etc," he said.

So does he not realize that there is a megadevelopment planned for Willets Point, or does he just think that it won't be happening any time soon?

Gigantic tower planned for downtown Jamaica

From the Queens Courier:

A new mixed-use, residential and commercial $225 million building with hundreds of units is planned for Downtown Jamaica near the AirTrain, officials said.

Greater Jamaica Development Corporation (GJDC), which owns the 93-01 Sutphin Blvd. site, recently announced the project and that BRP Companies, a New York-based developer, will build the tower.

On completion, the tower will have 400 residential units and at least 80,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, according to the GJDC.

MTA wants hotel near AirTrain

From Crain's:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is expected to green light a development project on Wednesday that will result in a new $35 million hotel in Jamaica Queens at the Long Island Rail Road station.

The MTA's finance committee approved the deal on Monday. It will go before the full board for a vote Wednesday morning. A spokesman for the agency said the board is expected to approve the transaction, which involves selling a plot of land to developer, Able Management Group, for $1.7 million. Able was one of two firms that submitted a request for a proposal last year to develop the property into a 210-room, 24-story hotel.

The MTA owns about a third of the land, the full cost of which is $4.5 million. Located across from the AirTrain Station, the hotel is a coup for the Greater Jamaica Development Corp., which owns the remainder of the land.

Trying to polish coal into a diamond

From the Daily News:

A southeast Queens development group is seeking to turn downtown Jamaica into a shopping and hospitality hub.

The Greater Jamaica Development Corp. and the city have released requests for proposals for commercial or hospitality projects at two separate sites across the street from the AirTrain station to Kennedy Airport.

“A lot of people come through Jamaica, but don’t come to Jamaica,” Greater Jamaica President Carlisle Towery said Thursday. “We want it to be a destination.”

The area is known for its discount shopping and abundance of public transportation.

In the last few years, small hotels have also begun to sprout up in downtown Jamaica. Plans are in the works for a half-acre park, and now two residential projects are slated to go up.

Port Authority's dumping ground

From NY1:

The wide open gates to a former Port Authority construction area in Jamaica, Queens have invited people looking to get rid of all kinds of trash and debris, from tires and closet doors, to cassette tapes and even a refrigerator.

The State Department of Transportation said the spot was a grassy area until about a decade ago when the Port Authority fenced it as a staging area during construction of the AirTrain above the Van Wyck Expressway.

The AirTrain has been running for years, but the fence remains.

DOT officials say while they are responsible for the property, the Port Authority was supposed to restore the area.

"It's a mess," said Jamaica resident Raynald Turner. "They just left the fencing and never came back for it. It looks like everything was kind of left behind."

Much of what was left behind has been vandalized, from the fence to concrete barriers. Then there is the ongoing illegal dumping, and residents say the site has been cleared out many times.

Scaled down Jamaica transformation?

From the Queens Tribune:

A development project intended to stimulate the economy of downtown Jamaica – as well as bring aesthetic appeal – may be facing budget cuts that would preserve the function but abandon its artistic form.

The Greater Jamaica Development Corp., which has been acting for more than 40 years as the key architect of growth, zoning changes and remediation of Downtown Jamaica, was hoping to receive $15.9 million of City funding for the Atlantic Avenue extension project – a key part of a massive urban renewal project around the new AirTrain station.

Under the plan, the community surrounding Atlantic Avenue would be transformed into a mixed-use business district around the Jamaica Station and AirTrain complex, bringing commercial space, several parks, residential units, and retail to the area. The complete project design also includes several parks and visual improvements to the one-way pair of 94th and 95th Avenues.

When the possibility of a $10 million funding cut came to the attention of GJDC earlier this year, the organization reached out to then-Economic Development Corp. Executive Vice President Madelyn Wils, asking for the funds to remain. Wils responded to GJDC President Carlisle Towery that the City was unable to return the project to its $15.9 million plan due to the economy, though the EDC agreed to work with GJDC to change the scope of the project to fit a potential change in budget.

Exposing our vulnerabilities

From the NY Post:

Some of the most heavily trafficked bridges, tunnels and transit hubs in the world are on a list of Port Authority facilities vulnerable to terrorist attacks, according to documents obtained by The Post.

The Hudson River crossings to Manhattan -- the Lincoln and Holland tunnels and the George Washington Bridge -- along with the Bayonne Bridge, the roadway under the Port Authority Bus Terminal and the AirTrain to Kennedy Airport. all get inadequate policing, the documents show.

Sitting ducks

The Port Authority’s most vulnerable sites, according to its police union:

1. Lincoln & Holland tunnels, GW Bridge
An incident at one site would leave the other two without police coverage.

2. JFK AirTrain
There are no cops patrolling the rails 97 percent of the time.

3. Port Authority Bus Terminal
A roadway that runs below it is totally unmanned.

4. Bayonne Bridge
It is left with no police coverage several times during the day.