Environmental groups take AirTrain to court
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A group of environmental advocates sued the FAA and Port Authority over its plans to build the LaGuardia AirTrain this week. Rendering via the governor’s office/Flickr
By Jacob Kaye
The federal government and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are facing a legal challenge to its plans to build the controversial $2.05 billion AirTrain to LaGuardia Airport.
A group of environmental advocates and residents poised to be neighbors to the above ground shuttle filed the lawsuit in the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday.
The suit alleges that the Federal Aviation Administration illegally issued its approval, known as its Record of Decision, of the project by not exploring alternate routes and options and ignoring flaws with the proposed project.
“These deficiencies in the Record of Decision denied the public important information about the feasibility, cost, environmental impacts, and regional transit and jobs benefits of the alternatives,” says the lawsuit, which was filed by groups Riverkeeper, Guardians of the Flushing Bay and the Ditmars Boulevard Block Association. “The public simply has no way to determine whether the AirTrain is in the best interests of the region with the least impact on local communities and the environment.”
The FAA approved the project, which was spurred into action by former Governor Andrew Cuomo, in July.
According to its supporters, the AirTrain, which is part of an $8 billion upgrade to the airport, will cut the commute from midtown Manhattan to the Northwest Queens airport down to 30 minutes.
The project, which would also support 3,000 construction jobs, would pick up and drop off riders at Willets Point – connecting with the 7 train and the LIRR Port Washington branch – and take them on a 6 minute elevated journey along the Flushing Bay and through a portion of East Elmhurst, according to project proposals.
Frank Taylor, the president of the Ditmars Boulevard Block Association, is against the proposed project for myriad reasons, but said that at the heart of his concern is the health of his family and neighbors.
“They did nothing to protect our health,” Taylor told the Eagle. “I'm not trying to stop progress. But this is not progress. This is killing people.”
In its own review of the project, the FAA found that nearby residents – Taylor lives around 100 yards away from a section of the proposed route – would be subject to some forms of pollution.
Specifically, the agency said the surrounding residential area would “disproportionately experience high and adverse noise and vibration impacts” during construction and significant light emissions once the train is in operation.
Taylor said that he didn’t understand why more alternative routes were explored.
“You’re going to spend $2 billion on something when you could put a dedicated bus lane, you could use ferries, you can extend the N line,” Taylor said. “I guarantee you come out with less money than you do with this.”
In its final decision on the project, the FAA called the current plan and route “reasonable, feasible, practical and prudent.” However, in previous reviews of the project, the agency raised concerns about alternate routes that may have proven to be more practical.
The FAA declined to comment for this story, citing it’s policy to not comment on pending litigation, a spokesperson said.
Governor Kathy Hochul’s office did not respond to request for comment.
The Port Authority, which was also named in the suit, defended its project and stressed that it had explored alternate routes.
“The Biden Administration’s transportation experts greenlighted the badly-overdue LaGuardia AirTrain after reviewing more than 25,000 pages of studies and other materials, and analyzing more than 40 alternatives,” the agency said in a statement to the Eagle. “We are confident that the panel of federal judges who will now independently review this matter will affirm that the AirTrain is now ready to be built.”
The agency further defended the project’s environmental impact, claiming that it would “reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by getting millions of cars off the road.”
Taylor says he’s heard the line before and points to traffic on the Van Wyck Expressway, which leads to JFK Airport, as the reason why he doesn’t buy it.
“Right now, [the Van Wyck] is a parking lot,” he said.
A Better Way to LGA, a coalition of groups, including the Queens Chamber of Commerce, spoke out in support of the project in the wake of the lawsuit Tuesday. The chairs of the coalition called the FAA’s review of the rail link “fair, independent and exhaustive.”
“This is reflective of the diverse coalition of environmental advocates, business leaders, labor unions, transportation advocates, community members, and civic stakeholders who understand the importance of creating a reliable public transit link to LaGuardia Airport, which is currently the only major airport on the East Coast without rail access,” the group said in a statement.
“AirTrain LGA isn't just about the future of the airport. It's about the future of Queens – its small businesses, its workforce, and its residents – as we focus on the type of big projects that will make the borough better, create jobs and fight climate change at the same time. It will catalyze economic activity that supports local businesses and local communities,” they added.
The groups behind the lawsuit are asking the court to put the project on ice.
“We’re hoping to stop the project but we're also hoping that they look at the entire thing here and somebody with some sense says, ‘No, this is all wrong,’” Taylor said. “They’re bad neighbors.”
