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First Look Inside LaGuardia's Shiny New Terminal B Concourse, Opening Tomorrow
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Nov 30, 2018
Modified Nov 30, 2018
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By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Nov 30, 2018
Modified Nov 30, 2018
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Travelers will get their first look at the 63% less hellish LaGuardia Airport of the future on Saturday, when the new gates of a rebuilt Terminal B open to the public.
The brand new concourse features 250,000 square-feet of space, with ample natural light and soaring 55-foot ceilings (presumably attached to bigger, glossier milk harvesters?) Travelers can also enjoy a dozen new concessions, including Shake Shack and Irving Farm Coffee, as well as retail vendors like FAO Schwartz, MAC cosmetics and McNelly Jackson.
When did New York's backwater slum of an airport turn into SoHo, you ask? As Cuomo explained during a ceremonial opening on Thursday, the new gates are part of an $8 billion facelift aimed at transforming LaGuardia into a "modern, global gateway that is worthy of the State of New York."
"While leaders in Washington only talk about investing in infrastructure, in New York we are actually getting it done, and now travelers from across the world will start to see and experience a whole new LaGuardia," the governor added in a statement.
For leaky, odorous Terminal B, that means the eleven new gates opening on Saturday, plus seven more to come in 2020 once the 50-year-old concourse is fully demolished. There's also fancy new restrooms—"above-sink shelves designed to keep belongings dry," a press release beckons—and dual pedestrian bridges coming in 2020 that stretch over active plane taxiing fields.
On the eastern side of the airport, Delta's overhaul of Terminal C will create a new 37-gate centralized hub, replacing the existing Terminals C and D beginning in 2021 [renderings here].
All told, the project will eventually cover 2.7 million square feet, with 72 new gates and six new concourses. Port Authority will pay for one-third of the $8 billion redevelopment, with Delta and LaGuardia Gateway Partners privately financing the remainder.
Whether any of this improves the primary problem plaguing the airport—the consistent, soul-crushing delays—remains to be seen.
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airport
Governor Andrew Cuomo
laguardia
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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