Hochul To Port Authority: 'Thoroughly Examine' Cuomo's AirTrain

EAST ELMHURST, QUEENS — Governor Kathy Hochul asked the Port Authority to look into alternatives to her disgraced predecessor's LaGuardia Airport AirTrain plan, as a growing list of local leaders and transit experts demand an end to the project.

"I have asked the Port Authority to thoroughly examine alternative mass transit solutions for reducing car traffic and increasing connectivity to LaGuardia Airport," said Hochul in a statement on Monday, which doesn't oppose the project outright.

This isn't the first time that the Governor said the controversial $2 billion AirTrain plan — which would link LaGuardia Airport with a 7- and LIRR-train station at Willets Point — needs to be "examined."

Last week, when asked about her stance on Cuomo's project, Hochul said that she wanted to further assess the AirTrain's hefty price tag with guidance from the Port Authority — the agency responsible for building the AirTrain.

"[The AirTrain] is something that can be examined. In terms of our priorities right now, I need to make sure that we have the resources," she said, adding that she has been having conversations with Port Authority executive director Rick Cotton.

Cotton, one of the main project proponents who is himself a Cuomo appointee, responded by saying that he would review Cuomo's project if asked to do so by the Governor.

"We have been as responsive as possible to the concerns of the community," Cotton told reporters during the agency's monthly board meeting last week. "We'll be, as I say, discussing this in whatever detail, providing whatever review Governor Hochul desires."

Cotton hasn't publicly responded to Hochul's latest statement.

While the Governor didn't demand an end to the project, many other other local leaders and transit experts have long maligned the plan, arguing that it would increase travel time and isn't worth the cost.

The project's list of opponents has only grown longer since Cuomo resigned in Aug. after Attorney General Letitia James found that he sexually harassed 11 women while in office.

In the past week alone, Queens State Sens. Leroy Comrie, Michael Gianaris, John Liu and Toby Stavisky, as well as Queens Borough President Donovan Richards — who previously supported the project — have all said that Cuomo's plan should be reevaluated.

Also, a group of environmental advocates and northwest Queens residents recently sued the federal government for unlawfully approving the project without considering alternative proposals — a similar critique that Port Authority staffers leveled against their own agency in August, too.

Other groups, by contrast, have supported the plan on the basis that it will create new jobs in the COVID-stricken borough of Queens.

Hochul, likely expecting backlash from these project proponents, said in her statement on Monday that she still wants to bring new infrastructure projects to the city — and state at large.

"I remain committed to working expeditiously to rebuild our infrastructure for the 21st century and to create jobs - not just at LaGuardia, but at all of our airports and transit hubs across New York," she said.

Related Articles

• Astoria Leader Demands End To Cuomo's LaGuardia AirTrain Plan
• Queens Leaders Join Fight Against Cuomo's LaGuardia AirTrain Plan
• Queens Advocates Sue Federal Government Over LaGuardia AirTrain
• Staffers Demand End To Cuomo's LaGuardia AirTrain Plan: Report
• Ocasio-Cortez Raises Questions About $2B LaGuardia AirTrain Plan