When Governor Cuomo dumped a bucket of lofty, coffer-draining, logistics-be-damned infrastructure announcements last month—a Penn Station-Apple Store hybrid, a wifi-equipped subway system coupled with lengthy station shutdowns, a Javits Center "for the next generation"—some New Yorkers were still wrapping their heads around the possibility of an overhauled LaGuardia airport, equipped with a ferry terminal and ill-fated AirTrain, for a cool $4 billion. Now the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the estimate has been bumped to $4.2 billion, thanks to previously unforeseen costs in overhauling 1960s-era Terminal B into a central terminal unifying the entire airport. One insider told the paper that financing could push the estimate closer to $5 billion.
To help cover these ballooning costs, LaGuardia is reportedly considering lifting the "perimeter rule"—a 1984 restriction that prohibits the airport from hosting direct flights to cities more than 1,500 miles away from New York (why your Seattle/Hong Kong/Hawaii flights don't drop you at LGA). There's currently an exemption on Saturdays (Delta apparently takes advantage with a weekly round-trip between LGA and Aruba), and direct flights to Denver are allowed, even though they technically exceed the mandated maximum trip length.
Lifting the ban would likely increase customer traffic and bring more expensive flights through the airport—crowds that the currently-outdated airport would have a hard time handling. Still, the idea has long been backed by Delta, which is partnering with the Port Authority to carry out Cuomo's LGA renovation plans.
But WSJ reports that other airlines are pushing back, including JetBlue, which has a hub at JFK, and United, which has a Newark hub. (United Airlines executive Kate Gebo warned of “significant impacts on air traffic, congestion and competition.") Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, who's on the Governors' advisory panel for the LGA overhaul, has called for a review of the possible environmental impacts from noise pollution and air traffic.
Ultimately, the decision to lift the perimeter rule is up to the Port Authority. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but an insider told WSJ that a decision likely won't be made until fall 2016.
Work is supposed to begin on the airport early next year, pending final Port Authority approval, with new sections accessible by summer 2019, and construction complete another year and a half later. Who's to say how much renovation costs will jump by then?
