Chuck Schumer grovels to Jet Blue to remain in Queens

 

 

Queens Eagle

One of the nation’s most powerful lawmakers has joined the effort to keep JetBlue in Queens.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer paid a personal phone call to JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes following reports that “New York’s Hometown Airline” was thinking of taking off to Florida.

Schumer said he reminded Hayes of the airline’s roots in Queens, where JetBlue has remained since its founding 1998. He also said he and fellow New York leaders worked hard to secure  $14 billion for the airline industry in the $1.9 trillion stimulus package passed this month.

“With the critical pandemic relief dollars we just delivered on to help save airlines like JetBlue, and the thousands and thousands of New Yorkers they already employ, the airline should actually clear the runway to grow here, not recede,” Schumer said. “Bottom line, I am confident JetBlue will remain New York’s hometown airline for a long time to come.”

The airline has 1,300 employees who report to the Long Island City space and thousands more reporting to Queens’ two international airports 

Their current lease at 27-01 Queens Plaza North expires in 2023.

JetBlue, the seventh largest carrier in North America, started in Kew Gardens before moving to Long Island City in 2010. The company received a slew of incentives from New York City and state at the time, fueling speculation that the leaked memo was the start of a new attempt to extract concessions from a city eager to keep the company in Queens.

The airline has also contended with huge losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the second quarter of 2020, for example, the company reported a nearly 90 percent loss of revenue as air travel ground to a near halt. Revenue decreased by 76 percent in the third quarter of 2020 and 67 percent in the fourth quarter. 

In a statement to the Eagle, JetBlue did not rule out fleeing Queens when their lease expires. The company said they “expect to have a plan in place later this year.”

Jet Blue sign to light the way

From the NY Times:

In response to a push from the airline JetBlue, which opened a new headquarters in Long Island City this month, proposed zoning changes are moving forward to allow the company and its neighbors to shout their identities from huge rooftop signs that could be seen from Manhattan.

On Tuesday, a City Council subcommittee unanimously approved the changes to permit such signs on nonresidential buildings along 14 block fronts between 23rd Street and the Sunnyside railroad yards.

It is one of the last steps in the approval process that the airline embarked on more than a year ago and that has been slowed by red tape and community opposition. The full Council is expected to vote on Monday to approve the amendments, which will pave the way for the four-and-a-half-story-high sign, and perhaps others.

Replacing Jet Blue won't be easy

From the Forum:

The departure of a major airline company has left some Forest Hills store owners struggling and hoping to survive the loss of business.

About two weeks ago, JetBlue Airways, a Queens-based airline company that has its main base at John F. Kennedy International Airport, opened its new headquarters in Long Island City. Its previous location had been at the Forest Hills Towers on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills, near where Queens Borough Hall and Queens County Supreme Court are.

JetBlue took about 900 employees when it moved to its new location. Their departure has affected the amount of business some store owners near the towers are getting since the company left.

Roman Davidov, who is part-owner of Hot Bialeys & Bagels, which is about one block away from the towers, said that his store has lost roughly 20 to 30 percent of business since JetBlue moved away from Forest Hills.

Nilesh Patel, president of Vasu Convenience store, which is across the street from where JetBlue was, said he has lost about $50-60 every day since the airline left.

Although Patel said that he doesn’t think he is in danger of closing the store for good, he did say that he might have to stay open one or two hours later to make up for the lost money.

As for who will come in to fill the void JetBlue has left, Ken Siegel, who works as the international managing director for Jones Lang LaSalle, a real estate firm that is looking for a new tenant of the open space, said that the office space JetBlue was in is very attractive to potential suitors and they have gotten many companies, both local and from Manhattan and western Long Island, that have expressed interest in moving into the available space. He declined to say what companies are interested.

Jet Blue's sign fight

From the NY Post:

JetBlue wants to light up the New York skyline with its iconic blue logo — but it must first clear layers of city red tape before taking off.

The airline, which will move its corporate headquarters to Long Island City next month, plans to erect a 40-foot lighted sign on the rooftop of its new building at 27-01 Queens Plaza North.

“When complete, it will be easily seen from the east side of Manhattan across the river,” JetBlue said.

But JetBlue’s proposal must be reviewed and approved by two community boards, the borough president, the City Planning Commission, the City Council and mayor.

Board 2, while backing JetBlue’s sign request, voted against the zoning resolution anyway, claiming it would allow more signs and billboards to be erected atop other buildings in Queens Plaza without its review.

“We don’t want the honky-tonk look,” said Board 2 Chairman Joseph Conley.

Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who represents the LIC area, gave JetBlue his full endorsement.

Jet Blue may fly away

Queens-based JetBlue considering New York and Orlando for corporate headquarters
By Clare Trapasso
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

JetBlue may not be flying the coop just yet.

The list of cities competing for Queens' discount airline's new corporate headquarters has been pared down to New York City and Orlando, JetBlue officials said.

City and JetBlue representatives toured several possible sites for the company's corporate offices in New York City last month, JetBlue spokesman Bryan Baldwin confirmed.

But neither he nor city officials would confirm which neighborhoods - or boroughs - were under consideration.

The move could affect more than 850 workers at the company's Forest Hills headquarters and another 74 employees at JetBlue's financial service center in Darien, Conn.

JetBlue opened a training facility in Orlando in June 2005.