Cuomo To Fast-Track $8B LaGuardia Airport Overhaul Amid Pandemic

EAST ELMHURST, QUEENS — Gov. Andrew Cuomo is accelerating an $8 billion overhaul of LaGuardia Airport during the coronavirus pandemic, when few are flying.

Cuomo said the state will ramp up big infrastructure projects like LaGuardia and a renovation of Penn Station while the number of passengers is low and unemployment is high due to the pandemic.

Flights are down nearly 100 percent at LaGuardia, ABC7 New York reported last week.

"Traffic is low, passenger volume is lower, let's accelerate that construction now," Cuomo said during a news briefing Tuesday. "Let's do things that we've been talking about for a long time but we've never actually pulled the trigger on."

Delta Air Lines, which is contributing roughly $3.5 billion to the project, floated the idea last week.

"With the drop in demand, we actually see an opportunity to accelerate some of the construction,” Delta CFO Paul Jacobson told Forbes.

Cuomo heads to Washington Wednesday to pitch President Donald Trump on providing federal assistance and approval for the LaGuardia AirTrain, a contentious project that is now expected to cost $2.05 billion.