NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Gov. Kathy Hochul has ditched a plan to build an AirTrain to LaGuardia Airport after a review determined that the project's cost had risen to $2.4 billion, more than five times initial estimates.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo first announced the transit project in 2015 and placed costs at $450 million. However, The New York Times reported after Cuomo resigned in disgrace in 2021, the plan faced opposition from elected officials and community groups.
Months after Hochul stepped into the governor's role, she ordered a review of the project.
Finally, the panel of transportation experts on Monday recommended increasing public bus service to LaGuardia and adding a shuttle between the airport and subway stations in northern Queens to reduce air travelers' reliance on taxis and private cars.
The panel agreed that extending the subway to provide a "one-seat ride" from Midtown would be "the best way to achieve the best mass transportation connection." However, the engineers who reviewed the options were unable to find a viable way to build a subway extension to the congested airport, which is bordered by the Grand Central Parkway and the East River.
"I accept the recommendations of this report, and I look forward to its immediate implementation by the Port Authority in close coordination with our partners in the M.T.A., city and federal government," Hochul said in a statement on Monday.
An AirTrain to the Queens airport, similar to the one that has served Kennedy International Airport for nearly 20 years, was hoped to be included in an $8 billion renovation. The two large terminals opened at the airport in recent years as part of the overhaul were reportedly designed to include AirTrain stations.
Cuomo and his supporters argued that LaGuardia was the only major East Coast airport without a rail connection, while Hochul, then lieutenant governor, said in 2018 that an AirTrain would provide "easy access and travel options for people in Manhattan and on Long Island."
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates LaGuardia, had received expedited federal approval for its project to build the AirTrain between LaGuardia and Willets Point, where it could have connected with the 7 subway line and the Long Island Rail Road, according to the report.
Ultimately the plan, which promised to get travelers from Midtown to the airport in less than 30 minutes, would face setbacks.
Riverkeeper, an environmental advocacy group, and two Queens community organizations sued the Port Authority and the Federal Aviation Administration in 2021 to stop the AirTrain project, claiming that it would take parkland away from the historically Black neighborhood of East Elmhurst.
Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, would also recommend abandoning the project due to rising construction costs.
Hochul said Monday that she's "grateful to the expert panel, the technical consultants, and the Port Authority for providing a clear, cost-effective path forward with an emissions-free transit solution for customers."
The transportation authority's spokesman, John J. McCarthy, said in a statement that the agency was looking forward to continuing to work with the Port Authority "as it rolls out its new direct airport shuttle service" and would collaborate on the Q70 service improvements recommended by the panel.
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