Air we go at last!
Phase 1 of ‘new’ La Guardia taking off
Fliers will get their first glimpse of La Guardia Airport’s $8 billion overhaul this weekend — with a brand-new Terminal B concourse that includes a Shake Shack and FAO Schwarz, among other shops, officials announced on Thursday.
The concourse will open Saturday with 11 new gates. Seven more new gates will open in 2020, once the adjacent old concourse is demolished, said Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton.
Air Canada, American, Southwest and United will depart from the new gates.
Other shops opening Saturday include a MAC Cosmetics boutique and a McNally Jackson bookstore.
The 250,000-square-foot space, with soaring 55-foot-high ceilings, is just under 10 percent of the massive hub that’s in the works, Cotton said.
Gov. Cuomo called the project a “dream coming to life,” adding it would improve the image of the airport, which then-Vice President Joe Biden once said resembled one belonging to a “Third World country.”
“I got calls from other colleagues and they said, ‘You know, we’re going to sign a letter condemning the vice president,’” Cuomo recalled.
“I said, ‘Condemning him for saying what?’
“‘Well, he said La Guardia was like landing in a Third World nation. He insulted New York.’ “I said, ‘Yeah, the only problem is . . . it’s true.’ ” The project has already brought in $330 million to local Queens businesses, Cotton said.
La Guardia Gateway Partners and Delta are privately financing two-thirds of the airport’s redevelopment costs and the PA is handling the remaining third, officials said.
On the western side of the airport, the new $4 billion Terminal B will replace an obsolete terminal that opened more than 50 years ago. In all, it will include 35 gates.
Dual pedestrian bridges, built over active plane taxi lanes, will connect the main departure and arrival hall set to open in 2020 with two island concourses.
And on the eastern side, Delta’s new $4 billion Terminal C, which will include 37 gates, will replace the existing Terminals C and D and open in 2021.
“It’s on time, it’s on schedule, it’s on budget, it’s happening and it is magnificent,” Cuomo said.