New York Governor Proposes Taking Control of JFK and La Guardia Airport Redevelopment

New York State proposes to take over the redevelopment of John F. Kennedy and La Guardia Airport from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in his annual State of State speech today.

“La Guardia Airport is ranked the worst airport in America…it’s a disgrace and it’s going to change,” said Cuomo. “We will make us proud of that gateway once again.”

The governor’s statement was followed up with this tweet:

#LaGuardia ranked worst airport in US=unacceptable. Let's finally build the 21st century airports #NYS deserves #JFK pic.twitter.com/l6X4dFiIhf

— Archive: Governor Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 8, 2014

The two airports served almost 75 million passengers in 2012.

Advocacy group Global Gateway Alliance was created to bring awareness to the region’s outdated infrastructure and released the following statement upon hearing the news.

“For decades, New York City airport modernization has been squeezed out by budget shortfalls and other infrastructure projects. Today, Governor Cuomo is taking our airports out of the ‘middle seat’ and placing them on the top of the priorities list.”

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is currently responsible for maintaining and operating the two New York City airports. It was planning to select a winning team of bidders this spring to rebuild and operate La Guardia’s Central Terminal Building. The project is estimated to cost $3.6 billion, but that amount would likely rise over time.

The Port Authority has not yet responded to Skift’s inquires for a comment.