'Long Overdue:' $4B LGA Upgrade Finally Complete, Hochul Says

EAST ELMHURST, QUEENS — Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams cut the last of many ceremonial ribbons on LaGuardia Airport's $4 billion central terminal upgrade on Thursday.

The ceremony, which is six years in the making, marks the completion of Terminal B's Western Concourse, serviced by American Airlines, and a skybridge connecting the main Arrivals and Departures Hall with those gates. La Guardia's Eastern Concourse opened in 2018, followed by the airport's Arrivals and Departures Hall in 2020.

LaGuardia's dingy, 1960s-era Central Terminal Building was maligned by many, including then Vice President Joe Biden who infamously called the terminal "third-world" — a point that was repeatedly raised at Thursday's ribbon cutting.

When Biden (who is planning to visit New York City next week) sees the airport "he'll know that we listened, and [that] yes, this is the best place in the world," said Hochul.

The governor adding that the "long overdue" project was a "visual reminder" of New Yorkers' progress and resiliency.

The new Terminal B includes lofty, light-filled ceilings, 35 gates, dozens of new shops, an outdoor dining area with views of the Manhattan skyline, and four commissioned pieces of public art; architecture and art that garnered the airport a UNESCO prize and MASterworks Awards, as mentioned by many on Thursday.

Adams echoed Hochul, calling it a symbol of New Yorkers' accomplishments during difficult times. "We went from the last to the first," he said, extending specific thanks to the workers who built the project amid the pandemic.

Adams also took the opportunity to speak of the recent deaths of two police officers in Harlem and his sweeping plan to fight gun violence.

On Tuesday, the mayor announced that controversial plainclothes police units will be revived and deployed citywide, including in northwest and southeast Queens precincts.

Rick Cotton, the executive director of the Port Authority, also noted that the project was built on a "more equitable basis than any project previously," pointing to initiatives that prioritized minority- and woman-owned businesses and employed local community members in the process — opportunities that he said will extend to the redevelopment efforts at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which broke ground in December.

With Thursday's opening, the airport's $8 billion transformation is halfway to completion.

Andrew Cuomo, who resigned last after an investigation found that he sexually harassed 11 women while in office, initially spearheaded the multi-million-dollar LaGuardia upgrade (alongside the Port Authority).

He took to Twitter on Thursday to claim credit for the Terminal B project, thanking airport workers, the Port Authority, and members of his administration "who worked hard on this project." Hochul, however, was notably absent from his statement.

Delta Air Lines' upgraded terminal at LaGuardia's east end, which is still under construction, is slated to open by "spring" of this year, Cotton said on Thursday.

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