AirTrain do-over takes off
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The Port Authority hosted a public comment session on 14 public transit options to LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye
By Jacob Kaye
The Port Authority hosted the first of two public comment sessions on alternative transit options to LaGuardia Airport Wednesday night, next door to the very place the state says the public has trouble accessing.
About 75 of the airport’s neighbors made their way around the ballroom of the LaGuardia Airport Marriott Hotel, eyeing posters that detailed each of the 14 proposed public transit options the Port Authority released earlier this month.
It’s early days in the process, Port Authority representatives and consultants presenting on the plans told residents. There are no price tags, no concrete studies and no fleshed out timeline for what may or may not happen next. That’s because the review, ordered by Governor Kathy Hochul, isn’t a codified process, unlike the review conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has legally defined parameters.
“I think this is a very shabby job because they put out these diagrams but there’s nothing underneath to explain,” said Frank Taylor, who leads the Ditmars Boulevard Block Association. “Is this really community engagement or is this a show?”
Taylor, along with a number of Western Queens lawmakers and advocates, were opposed to the state’s plan to build an AirTrain routed from Willets Point to the airport.
Governor Kathy Hochul put the project on pause after it came under increased scrutiny in the months following the Federal Aviation Administration’s 2021 review of the project, which determined the AirTrain was the best route to take.
The review was criticized by a number of elected officials and advocates, who accused the federal agency of ignoring many of the alternative transit options and routes – nearly every one of the Port Authority’s 14 alternatives presented Wednesday were previously reviewed by the FAA.
In October, Hochul, who inherited the project from her predecessor, ordered the Port Authority to take another look at some of the bus, rail, subway and other transit options proposed in the past.
Those 14 plans were on display Wednesday, and nearly all drew some type of criticism from the Queens residents who had made their way to the hotel to share their thoughts.
Mark Jenkins, an East Elmhurst resident, said he supports a plan to extend the N and W train in Astoria east from the 30th Avenue stop. The line would travel along the Grand Central Parkway before potentially ducking underground by LaGuardia and letting passengers off near a terminal.
“That would be the best option,” Jenkins said. “But I don’t know if the people in Astoria are going to go for that. The question is, is the construction going to take forever?”
There are no timelines or costs associated with any of the plans, however the subway extension options – there are two – would likely be the most expensive.
In its analysis of the other subway extension, which would start from the Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard stop, the FAA estimated the project would cost $2.82 billion. Ultimately, the agency said the alternative “would not be reasonable to construct and operate and was eliminated from further consideration.”
The agency proposed five bus routes, any one of which could potentially be the least expensive option. Four of the bus proposals would see the creation of a dedicated bus lane and the other would see a service extension of the M60, which originates on the west side of Manhattan.
But State Senator Jessica Ramos, who was opposed to the original AirTrain project and who was one of two elected officials in attendance Wednesday night, said that increased and improved bus service to the airport should be a given.
“A lot of these dedicated bus lanes should be happening anyway, irrespective of how we expand on any rail proposals,” Ramos said. “Our criticism of the AirTrain was always the fact that it didn't serve the community.”
“We know that LaGuardia Airport needs better access but you can't ignore the people who live so close to the airport,” she added.
Ramos added that she won’t endorse an option until after the Port Authority’s two public hearings and a town hall of her own are completed.
Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry, the other elected official in attendance, said that he felt that none of the alternatives posed by the Port Authority would solve as many issues as the AirTrain, which he has long supported.
“It makes the most sense in terms of how you get there,” Aubry said. “It's a game in New York – get a transit project, propose it and then you get 50 people who immediately come out say, ‘No, no, we got a better way.’”
“If you're going to put your head in the sand and stick your butt in the air, 20 years from now you'll regret it again,” he added.
However, those opposed to the AirTrain say it’s a costly and intrusive project that won’t improve transit options for people who live nearby.
“There's a lot of concern in the community in general, so I think this is like a great opportunity to get a better route option,” said Aaron Buckley, a Jackson Heights resident who supports either plan to extend the subway from Astoria.
But not all residents trusted that the public comment session would lead to a different outcome – the original AirTrain option is one of the 14 options the Port Authority is proposing.
“We have been through the ropes of these guys,” said Marie Gayle, an East Elmhurst resident and member of the Ditmars Boulevard Block Association. “I think they're counting on us just failing now, but I think that's a mistake on their part. We’re just as much vested in making sure whatever they come up with serves the community – I understand you have to have progress, but people live here.”
In addition to the two public hearings, the Port Authority sent surveys to around 70 stakeholders in recent weeks.
“We're not predetermining any outcome and we will evaluate all of these options fairly and equally,” said Hersh Parekh, a spokesperson for the Port Authority. “We are in support of improving mass transit connectivity to LaGuardia Airport and getting cars off the road and LaGuardia becoming a world class airport deserves that.
“What that option is, at the end of it, we’ll determine that at that appropriate time,” he added.
The Port Authority will hold its second public hearing at the Astoria World Manor from 6 to 8 p.m., on Thursday, March 24. The agency will release a report on the 14 transit options to the governor in the months following the hearing, according to Parekh.
