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Behold, the First Glimpse of a Revamped LaGuardia Airport

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Governor Andrew Cuomo and Vice President Joe Biden joined forces this afternoon to announce the imminent overhaul of LaGuardia Airport. The announcement detailed the $4 billion remaking of LaGuardia which will include the development of a central terminal and will also, according to a long series of tweets from the Governor's office, include connecting LaGuardia to mass transit options like ferry and rail service. The new terminal will also be moved about 600 feet closer to Grand Central Parkway to create more space for flight operation, CNBC reports. Cuomo says the project will break ground next year and take about 18 months (rough translation: 18 years) for the first portion of redevelopment thanks to expedited approvals from the Vice President's office. However long it actually takes, congratulations to the state for being ambitious, and for winning the approval of the same vice president who once referred to the airport as a facility that belongs in a third world country.

[Update: Although CNBC first reported that construction was expected to take 18 months, Cuomo's office says construction on the first phase of construction should wrap up around 2019.]

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From the Governor's office,

Governor Cuomo was joined today by Vice President Joe Biden to unveil the vision for the comprehensive redesign of LaGuardia Airport. The airport will be transformed into a single, structurally unified main terminal with expanded transportation access, significantly increased taxiway space and best-in-class passenger amenities. Construction on the first half of the new unified terminal, expected to be a $4 billion project that creates 8,000 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs, will be managed by LaGuardia Gateway Partners, a new public private partnership chosen by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to build the project. Construction on the first half will begin upon final approval from the Board of Directors of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. That approval is expected in the first part of 2016; the majority of this first half of the project is expected to open to passengers in 2019, with full completion scheduled for approximately 18 months later. The second half of the new unified terminal is expected to be redeveloped by Delta Air Lines, which has indicated strong support for the new vision, and anticipates beginning the redevelopment of its terminals on a parallel track with the LaGuardia Gateway Partners project to complete the new unified airport

The existing Terminal B will be razed to make room for the new unified departures and arrivals terminal that will link to Delta's terminals C and D, which will move closer to Grand Central Parkway. The terminals will be linked by an island-gate system, in which passengers will travel between their gates through a series of pedestrian bridges that are raised high enough for planes to taxi beneath. The island-gate system will create two miles of new taxiway space for LGA which will ease congestion in and out of the airport and hopefully eradicate the airport's rampant flight delays.

Construction will kick off following the approval of the Port Authority Board, and will be lead by LaGuardia Gateway Partners, who will design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the new terminal as a part of the 35-year lease they were awarded through the state's RFP.

For the Governor's full press release, head this way.
· NY Gov details $4B overhaul for LaGuardia Airport [CNBC]
· Governor Cuomo Unveils Vision For Transformative Redesign of LaGuardia Airport [official]
· New York's LaGuardia Airport Is So Bad that It's Being Completely Replaced [The Verge]
· Biden & Cuomo May Announce Major Good News For LaGuardia [Curbed]
· The $4B LaGuardia Overhaul Looks Like It's Going to Happen [Curbed]
· All LaGuardia Airport coverage [Curbed]