Brand New LGA Airport?

http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/27/9049743/laguardia-airport-replacement-new-york

I just saw this on my feedly... First i've heard of it. I did hear about improvements and the eventual, possibility of longer flights but this takes it to a whole new level. Razed and built up brand new in 18 Months? Addition of a train system?

 

It is a debacle. Unattainable in the timeframe suggested, especially since they need to keep flying the existing level of operations during the construction.

 

Yeah closing down LGA for 18M would make JFK/EWR a cluster !@#$ ...

 

The proposal does not involve closing the airport at any point AFAIK. And it is a 5 year construction timeline.

 

Ya think? They could just bring in the experts from BER and get it done on time and under budget. Easy peasy.

 

Nah. Just moving the !@#$ from LGA to JFK.

 

NYT:

From where LGA is currently the only place to go is up, so it is all good...

 

The only thing good at LGA is the Amex Lounge...

 

Which terminal ? Untied ? Or Deltoid C ?

 

Terminal B pre-security!

 

For me its because the hotel our company has a contract with has an airport shuttle :-/

 

Why such skepticism? After all there are at least two people in the U.S, of A. that can make this happen. And since our commander and chef is busy getting ready for a third term! The job falls to the world's greatest and most beloved mayor! The governor is only signing on for the publicity!
ETA: This was one of the "shovel ready" jobs talked about years ago!

 

It is just a plan. Many are unveiled and then carted off to the closet, or attic. NYC airports, JFK and LGA are like neighborhood gangs. Each have their turfs/buildings/neighborhood - they don't play well together under one roof ! Do you think the guy who won the WTC site plan and design, actually got to build the actual building ?

 

LGA will be renovated this time. It is something that has got to happen and, based on the NY Times piece, this is no longer a joke. The federal government, represented by Biden, knows this has to happen, as do NY authorities, from Gov. Cuomo on down. One way or another the NYC area airports will have to be revamped, if only because of increasing safety concerns, but also the image of the city is increasingly being affected. LGA will be renovated and the project will be sensibly managed because this is not a political thing. It is reality. LGA needs revamping and now is the time. In fact, according to the Times, some work may already have begun (planning for and construction of a parking garage that will replace the current parking areas in front of the terminals that will become part of the new LGA...

 

Unfortunately the only way to preform this act of prestidigitation is to close the facility, scrape it off level, and start over and with a little luck it will only take three times longer than the estimate and cost ten times the original cost. I don't believe that a shovel will hit the ground before 2032 given that every special interest group everywhere will stand up and want their say. The environmentalists, animal rights groups, locals who don’t want the noise, dirt, traffic and let us not forget that someone will want to place an historic site marker there!

 

I could not disagree more with this assertion. It is absolutely a political thing. The PANYNJ was working on new plans when Cuomo stepped in and took it away from the PA. Completely politically motivated IMO.

 

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree and then just wait and see, because I believe that the cynicism and naysaying about the LGA renovation project is not warranted. There reaches a point when the obvious needs to be done and for the crumbling infrastructure of NYC area airports, that point has been reached. One way or another, sooner or later, the NYC airports must be renovated. That time has arrived for LGA and everyone knows it.

There is nothing political about the absolute necessity for the renovation. It will happen. The jockeying for who gets to run the show is just that, a side show.

 

Sure. No argument here.

And completely political and driving the various design, budget and timeline decisions. Why is a shitty AirTrain going the wrong way part of the design? Politics. Why did the PANYNJ lose control of the project? Politics. Why was more energy in the presentation focused on the transit to/from the airport than on the airport itself? Politics.

Needing a new airport is not a surprise. The way this is being handled, however, is all politics.

 

Let's just agree to disagree. Neither of us is an insider. My view of this is that there reaches a point when politics no longer drives policy, especially for a pragmatic liberal like Gov. Cuomo. He is on the wrong side of the political divide for that!

I am not sure where you get your information from but on anything related to NYC/NY, the NY Times is the paper of record and in their piece on July 27 on the planned renovation of LGA, they had this:

I suggest you read whole the piece. The right decisions are being made and one of the airport's main problems -- "chronic delays" -- being addressed. Someone is taking this seriously and time will prove me right that politics as usual is no longer the driver of the LGA renovation project...

G'day!

 

Any time a politician is involved it is all about politics!

 

I'm familiar with the new design. I've researched, reviewed and reported on it. Moving the building closer to the GCP is part of the problem with the design. It removes parking options, limits transit access and otherwise makes getting to and from the airport more challenging. It does improve airplane flow.

But the majority of the "chronic delays" are related to the ZNY airspace, ATC limitations and weather; they are not a result of taxiway issues. Building this new "gem" of an airport doesn't fix those problems. Building a ferry station (not the first time this has been tried IIRC) doesn't solve transit issues or make flights be on time more often.

Cuomo made a political move to seize the project from the PANYNJ. And it is all downhill from there.

 

It depends on which side of the isle the politician is...some politicians, especially those on the left, do care about policy and not politics. You may be confusing the two...

 

I suggest we let bona fide civil engineers worry about solving LGA's problems and we return to blogging or commenting about miles and points...

 

Nah, I haven't found a politician from any side that was intelligent enough to hold the position. It seems that the desire to hold an office filters out intelligence. What policy and who cares it? What policy says the government should be building airports?

 

Why? This is not a civil engineering problem.

Besides, actually getting where I need to go is far more important than the miles & points.