[sparkling]

LaGuardia Airport's Long-Awaited Makeover Stalls, Yet Again



Thursday, February 19, 2015
Jessica Dailey

Hey, remember when the Port Authority said they would choose a design team in January and get started on the desperately needed makeover of LaGuardia Airport? Yeah, they were just kidding about that. No design team has been chosen, and according to the Journal, a team won't be chosen for several more months, making this approximately the 907th delay for the $3.6 billion plan to completely overhaul the airport's central terminal building. The latest delay can be blamed on Governor Cuomo's announcement of a design competition for ideas to remake all three area airports. The Port Authority decided that "it would be prudent to see what the conceptual design is before proceeding with the process."

The Port Authority first announced plans to replace LaGuardia's terminal building in late 2012. In March 2013, they started overhauling a parking garage. In January 2014, it looked like the Port Authority would choose a design team by spring, and we were teased with some wishful renderings in March. A few more months past, and in July, the Port Authority said they'd choose a team by September. September came, and they pushed the decision to October 22. And then in October, Cuomo came in with this new design competition, but he expected the central terminal plans for LaGuardia to keep progressing. Nothing was announced on October 22 (obviously), but on December 10, the Port Authority was supposed to reveal the two finalists. Nada.

The Journal reports that the bidders agree to wait until the end of April for a decision, but that timeline doesn't line up with the timeline for Cuomo's competition, for which submissions were due February 2. The Port Authority supposedly has three finalists in the running, but it's anyone's guess as to when they might be identified.

People involved with the process are annoyed at the delays and worried that the $3.6 billion price tag will only go up as the project drags on (to which we say: duh). Even with all of the setbacks, the Port Authority still says the expected completion date is 2021, but honestly, who believes that?