New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Unveils $10 Billion JFK Overhaul

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday announced a $10 billion plan to overhaul New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport—a huge undertaking that will rely on $7 billion of private sector investment.

Cuomo and Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman Thomas Prendergast, among others, made the announcement at a luncheon of several hundred members of the Association For A Better New York.

“When it was built, it was ahead of its time,” Cuomo said of JFK. “Now, time has passed us by.”

The facility was built in the 1940s, with the first commercial flights taking off in 1949 out of what was then known as Idlewild Airport. It was officially re-named John F. Kennedy International Airport on Christmas Eve, 1963, barely one month after the president had been assassinated.

The plan calls for a massive infrastructure redevelopment, including everything from new terminals at JFK; renovation of existing terminals; inter-connected terminals so that passengers may move about without having to go back outside; expansion of the notoriously oxymoronic Van Wyck Expressway, including possible high occupancy vehicle lanes; and additional public transportation, including a one-seat ride. That is: direct public transportation to the airport without having to change trains.

“If JFK Airport is to grow, and it most certainly will, public transportation has to grow with it,” Prendergast said in his remarks.

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There was no mention of where the $7 billion private-sector money would come from, but Cuomo remained optimistic, almost adamantly so.

“We have proven we can do this. Go look at the Tappan Zee Bridge. Go to the Second Ave. Subway,” he said, talking about big infrastructure projects currently going on in the state.

Naturally, there was immediate reaction, with sides recognizing the need for such a project with the need for better wages.

“Today’s announcement will not only make JFK Airport a model transportation hub worldwide, but it also will create thousands of middle-class construction jobs with good wages and benefits,” Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, said.

The airport workers’ union, 32BJ SEIU, representing some 8,000 workers at New York City’s three major airports, had issues with how Cuomo presented the plan.

“While we welcome Governor Cuomo’s announcement of a JFK Airport renovation project to ease travel and create temporary construction jobs at prevailing wage rates, this plan is, however, also disappointing as it lacks the promised investments in airport service and security jobs needed to truly modernize JFK Airport,” the union said in an emailed statement.

“You cannot have a modern, world-class airport without modern jobs that pay family-sustaining wages and benefits to the workers we rely on to keep the airport running. We will continue our fight for better jobs that will improve New York airports for everyone and strengthen the communities that rely on them.”