JFK Airport

Port Authority approves more than $1B for construction at NYC airports

Interior rendering of LaGuardia Airport, via Governor Andrew Cuomo on Flickr

December 8, 2017

Port Authority approves more than $1B for construction at NYC airports

With the approval of its $8 billion 2018 budget on Thursday, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey plans to spend more than $1 billion on major redevelopment projects at LaGuardia, Newark Liberty International and JFK Airports next year. The agency’s board of commissioners approved a budget that allocates $3.2 billion for operating expenses and $3.4 billion for capital expenses. According to the Wall Street Journal, $578 million will be put toward the $8 billion redevelopment of LaGuardia and $167 million toward a $2.3 billion redevelopment plan of Newark's Terminal A.
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New details about JFK’s TWA Hotel revealed, on track to open in 18 months

Rendering of TWA Hotel via MCR

September 29, 2017

New details about JFK’s TWA Hotel revealed, on track to open in 18 months

By Devin Gannon

MCR Development officially launched the mid-century modern TWA Lounge on the 86th floor of One World Trade Center on Thursday and provided a deeper look into plans to convert Eero Saarinen’s historic TWA flight center at JFK Airport into a hotel, event space, and dining destination (there will even be a bar in a vintage aircraft parked outside). As part of a public-private partnership between MCR and the Port Authority, the project will rehabilitate the landmarked Queens flight center by restoring the majority of its 1960s Jet Age features and adding a crescent-shaped hotel with 505 rooms flanking the original building on each side. According to MCR's CEO Tyler Morse, construction of the hotel is on schedule; it will go vertical on Monday, top out in December, and have its curtainwall applied by January. If everything remains on schedule, the project is expected to open in 18 months.
More details and photos this way

Pan Am Boeing 707-100 via Wikipedia

May 15, 2017

Before JFK, there was Idlewild Airport

By Penelope Bareau

Changes are afoot at JFK International Airport; construction has already begun on the transformation of Eero Saarinen's masterful TWA terminal, out of commission since TWA folded in 2001, into a 505-room first class hotel, and just a few months ago, Governor Cuomo announced a massive $10 billion overhaul of the whole airport, which will involve interconnecting the terminals, redesigning roads, and improving parking, amenities and security. When finished, the airport will bear little resemblance to what it once was, which has a much more interesting history than one might think. Ahead, 6sqft delves into how JFK changed from a playground for the rich to a major international airport, with some interesting debacles in between.
The whole history ahead

History

March 8, 2017

Exciting new details emerge for the TWA Terminal hotel

By Diane Pham

The excitement was palpable yesterday evening as New Yorkers packed into the SVA Theatre for a special presentation on one of the city's most important rehabilitation projects: the redevelopment of Eero Saarinen’s iconic TWA flight center into a hotel. Taking the stage were the development and architecture teams who divulged a slew of new details regarding the design, the hotel's offer, and even the pricing of the rooms.
more details from the night's event here

Port Authority may add $4 curbside taxi fee at airports

Image by Grant Wickens via flick CC

February 21, 2017

Port Authority may add $4 curbside taxi fee at airports

By Michelle Cohen

Image by Grant Wickens via flick CC As far back as 2015, 6sqft reported that the Port Authority was considering fees for vehicles pulling up curbside to drop off or pick up passengers at New York City's airports as a way to reduce the congestion that has worsened since services like Uber and Lyft have arrived. The city's airports are among the only ones in the U.S. that don't charge curbside access fees. Now the Daily News has obtained a Port Authority draft proposal outlining the proposed fees. Taxi and hired car passengers could be hit with a $4 charge for each trip in and out of Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports as early as next year. The fee would be charged to the car operators and would presumably be passed to passengers
The idea is not getting a warm reception

Transit

February 17, 2017

Port Authority approves $32.2B capital plan, will include new bus terminal and airport upgrades

By Dana Schulz

The Port Authority Board of Commissioners yesterday approved a $32.2 billion, 10-year capital plan--the agency's largest ever. The major allocations include: $3.5 billion to begin the planning and construction of a new Port Authority Bus Terminal; $10 billion towards improving trans-Hudson commuting, including a $1.5 billion Goethals Bridge replacement, completion of the $1.6 billion Bayonne Bridge rebuilding, and a $2 billion rehab of the George Washington Bridge; $11.6 billion in major airport upgrades, which factors in $4 billion for the new LaGuardia Terminal B, a plan to extend the PATH train from Newark Penn Station to the Newark Airport, and the beginning of Cuomo's JFK overhaul; and $2.7 billion towards the Gateway rail tunnel project.
More details ahead

January 6, 2017

Five ‘one-seat ride’ options to JFK Airport proposed by Regional Plan Association

By Dana Schulz

Earlier this week, Governor Cuomo unveiled his latest nine-figure infrastructure proposal, a $10 billion overhaul of JFK Airport. As 6sqft explained, the plan address three main issues: "unifying all the terminals with an interconnected layout so the airport is more easily navigable; improving road access to the airport; and expanding rail mass transit to meet projected passenger growth." This final point included a direct rail link so that passengers traveling to and from Manhattan wouldn't need to ride the subway to connect to the AirTrain. The Regional Plan Association decided to explore this idea further, and in a report out today they've detailed five different approaches for a "one-seat ride" to JFK, which includes an extension of the Second Avenue Subway and a new underground tunnel.
All the possibilities right this way

Transit

January 4, 2017

REVEALED: $10 billion overhaul announced for JFK Airport – see new renderings

By Diane Pham

"We shouldn’t settle for second best on anything,” Governor Cuomo proclaimed at the opening of the Second Avenue Subway this past weekend, and he was serious. This afternoon Cuomo announced that John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) will receive a massive overhaul that will transform the dated hub into a modern, state-of-the-art facility that can finally "meet the needs of a 21st century economy." As laid out by the governor's office, the revamp will address three main issues: unifying all the terminals with an interconnected layout so the airport is more easily navigable; improving road access to the airport; and expanding rail mass transit to meet projected passenger growth. In 2016 the airport served 60 million passengers, and this number is expected to increase to 75 million by 2030 and 100 million passengers by 2050.
more details and renderings this way

Transit

December 16, 2016

JFK’s TWA Hotel breaks ground, gets new renderings

By Dana Schulz

The shovels were out at JFK's TWA Flight Terminal yesterday, as MCR Development and JetBlue broke ground on their project to turn Eero Saarinen‘s mid-century modern masterpiece into the high-end, 505-room TWA Hotel. According to a press release, Governor Cuomo attended the festivities, noting that the conversion "will preserve this iconic landmark while cementing JFK’s status as a crown jewel of aviation." The news also came with two renderings that show the two, six-story, crescent shaped hotel buildings that will rise on either side of the existing structure.
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December 6, 2016

Iconic JFK Terminal begins its life as the ‘TWA Hotel’ with new signage

By Dana Schulz

After sitting vacant at JFK Airport for 14 years as a vestige of jet-age architecture, Eero Saarinen's iconic 1962 TWA Flight Terminal received a new life in the summer of 2015 when it was announced that the neo-futurist structure would be reborn as a high-end hotel. MCR Development teamed up with JetBlue and the Port Authority to develop a "505-room LEED-certified hotel with restaurants, 40,000 square feet of meeting space and a 10,000-square-foot observation deck," as 6sqft previously described. Initial reports referred to the project as the "TWA Flight Center Hotel," but the Times now confirms that it'll simply be the "TWA Hotel." And with construction four months in, Curbed noticed that signage for the hotel has gone up, preserving the airline's logo and font.
See the sign ahead

Port Authority Mulls Fee for Curbside Access to JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Airports

By Diane Pham

If you're someone who takes advantage of curbside pick up/drop off at NYC's airports as a way to avoid parking fees, that prudent sidestep could soon be coming to an end. CBS reports that the Port Authority is considering access fees as a way to reduce congestion outside airport terminals. Traffic is said to have become a real problem as services like Lyft and Uber have begun using the front of the terminals as prime spots to pick up business. “The operations of For-Hire-Vehicles and taxis at our airports are evolving rapidly and we are in the early stages of review,” the Port Authority noted in a statement. They also added that NYC's airports are one of the very few in the U.S. that do not charge curbside access fees, and where tolls are implemented, car services usually just pass the buck onto riders—meaning services and taxi drivers shouldn't worry about lost fare, but you will be shelling out even more cash to make up the difference when you get in their cars.
more here

Transit

October 5, 2015

October 18th Is Your LAST CHANCE to See the TWA Flight Terminal In All Its Glory

By Diane Pham

If you’re an architectural purist who’s somehow managed to miss exploring Eero Saarinen’s masterpiece at JFK in person all these year, you won't want to miss out on what will foreseeably be your last chance to experience the structure as it was meant to be. For one day only, the iconic building will open to the public for FREE for just four hours as part of the annual Open House New York Weekend festival. As written in an OHNY Weekend press release, Sunday, October 18th, "is likely to be the last time the TWA Flight Center will be open to the public in its current form." As 6sqft previously reported, the terminal will soon be redeveloped into a 505-room hotel by MCR Development and JetBlue.
FInd out more details here

It’s Official! JetBlue Will Turn the Iconic TWA Flight Terminal at JFK Into a Hotel

Image courtesy of Beyer Blinder Belle

September 18, 2015

It’s Official! JetBlue Will Turn the Iconic TWA Flight Terminal at JFK Into a Hotel

By Diane Pham

No longer will the fate of Eero Saarinen’s architectural masterpiece sit in limbo, Crain's reports that the iconic structure will indeed be made into a hotel, developed through a partnership between MCR Development and JetBlue. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey chose the pair amongst a "field of several competitors" bidding for the job, and the decision will be formally announced at the agency's board meeting next week. As we previously reported, the new destination will be known as the TWA Flight Center Hotel.
more details this way

August 7, 2015

How to Stop Supertall Towers from Swaying; FAO Schwarz’s Times Square Deal Falls Through

By Dana Schulz

JFK Airport will receive $8.9 million in federal funds for runway and airfield upgrades. [Crain’s] Fortis Property Group is making progress with its controversial plan to bring four apartment towers to the former site of the Long Island College Hospital in Cobble Hill. [Curbed] With Manhattan skyscrapers getting taller and thinner, developers are installing giant counter […]

Real Estate Trends

July 28, 2015

Eero Saarinen’s Iconic JFK Terminal to Be Reborn as the ‘TWA Flight Center Hotel’

By Diane Pham

For the last 14 years, JFK's most beloved structure has mostly languished vacant, reopened intermittently for public tours or to serve as the backdrop of some Jet Age fashion shoot. While there has been plenty of talk surrounding the TWA Flight Center's transformation into a hotel, details have remained sparse until now. As Curbed has it, the city has finally revealed that MCR Development will be taking the reigns alongside JetBlue and the NYNJ Port Authority, bringing the iconic terminal back to life as a 505-room LEED-certified hotel with restaurants, 40,000 square feet of meeting space and a 10,000-square-foot observation deck. The project will aptly be called "The TWA Flight Center Hotel."
FInd out more here

New York’s Airports Come In Last for Mass-Transit Accessibility

Photo via Continental Airlines Boeing 737-500; N16617@LGA;05.02.2008/498af via photopin (license)

February 10, 2015

New York’s Airports Come In Last for Mass-Transit Accessibility

By Dana Schulz

If you've ever endured the long ride to any of the area's airports, all the while lugging your suitcase and anxiously wondering if you'd miss your flight, then this statistic probably comes as no surprise. According to a study by the Global Gateway Alliance, "John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports rank last and third-to-last, respectively, in mass-transit accessibility compared with 30 of the world's busiest airports," reports Crain's. The analysis looked at total travel time for public transit users, mode of transportation and number of transfers and cost, scoring them from 0 to 100. And if Anthony Weiner is correct, the new LaGuardia AirTrain will only increase travel times–not good news those for us who prefer not to sit in insane taxi traffic or fork over $99 for a private helicopter ride.
More on the study here

Transit

Photo courtesy of Beyer Blinder Belle

October 11, 2014

An Architect’s Gift from the Jet Age: The TWA Flight Center at JFK International Airport

By Michelle Cohen

The TWA Flight Center at what is today John F. Kennedy International airport represents both the ephemeral and the ageless; our vulnerability at the end of the "American century" and the enduring beauty of inspired modern design. The work of mid-20th century Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, the historic terminal is among the city’s most beloved architectural treasures. It first opened in 1962, a year after the architect’s death, and Saarinen posthumously received the AIA Gold Medal award for the design in 1962. Despite its storied past and widespread reverence, since the demise of TWA and its subsequent purchase by American Airlines in 2001, the terminal’s iconic “head house” has remained eerily vacant, and its future continues to be a point of contention.
More on the terminal's past and uncertain future

JFK Airport

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