Ocasio-Cortez Raises Questions About $2B LaGuardia AirTrain Plan

EAST ELMHURST, QUEENS — Astoria and East Elmhurst residents have long expressed outrage and concerns over Gov. Andrew Cuomo's $2 billion proposal to build an AirTrain to LaGuardia Airport from Willetts Point.

Now, they have an influential new ally: U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of Queens and The Bronx in Congress, is asking Federal Aviation Administration officials to explain why they ruled out 46 alternatives to the AirTrain, concluding in a November review that the only "feasible" alternative was to do nothing at all.

In a letter sent Friday to the Federal Aviation Administration, Ocasio-Cortez asked officials to explain why they eliminated the alternatives of ferry service, dedicated bus lanes on the Q70 route, an extension of the N train from Astoria or an AirTrain connecting to the Woodside LIRR and 7 train station.

"This decision will have a lasting impact on thousands of people in our community," Ocasio-Cortez said. "The community must receive answers to their fundamental questions and it’s imperative that we understand why further investment and improvement of other transit options have been ruled out."

Critics have attacked the proposal with renewed urgency since the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, approved $2 billion in funding for the AirTrain project in October.

Of the comments the Federal Aviation Administration has received about the AirTrain, 255 expressed opposition, compared to just 55 showing support. (In putting together that tally, officials said they counted 77 public comments as just one comment, because those individuals "submitted an identical form letter." It's unclear whether those comments were for or against the project.)

Cuomo first proposed the AirTrain in 2015 as part of his $8 billion vision for redeveloping LaGuardia Airport. At that time, he estimated the AirTrain's cost at $450 million.

"For too long, LaGuardia Airport has had the dubious distinction of being the only major East Coast airport without a rail link, and that is unacceptable," Rick Cotton, the Port Authority director and a Cuomo appointee, said in June 2018.

The AirTrain is intended to reduce traffic congestion and shorten commutes from Manhattan to the airport, but some experts say those arguments don't pass muster.

"Compared to existing transit services, most riders using the AirTrain would spend more time traveling to LaGuardia than they do now," transit expert Yonah Freemark wrote in 2015, when Cuomo announced the plan.

Benjamin Kabak, editor of the transportation website Second Ave. Sagas, called the AirTrain "a $2 billion boondoggle with few transit benefits being driven solely by the governor’s whims" in a recent Streetsblog op-ed.

Federal Aviation Administration officials will host information sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the agency's screening of the 46 AirTrain alternatives, part of a larger environmental review that kicked off in May 2019.