[NYguy]

http://gothamist.com/2018/10/04/cuom...gs.php#photo-1

Cuomo Unveils $13 Billion JFK Overhaul





BY JAKE OFFENHARTZ
OCT 4, 2018

During a morning meeting hosted by the Association for a Better New York on Thursday, Governor Cuomo unveiled plans and renderings for a $13 billion modernization of John F. Kennedy International Airport, which he says will transform the hub into “one of the finest airports in the world."

Come 2025, at least, getting the hell out of New York is projected to become slightly more pleasant. The staggering investment promises to bring two new international terminal complexes to the airport, along with state-of-the-art security, digital signage, world-class passenger amenities, and improved roadways on the Van Wyck Expressway (a driving experience that Cuomo likened to "splinters under my fingernails.") AirTrain capacity is projected to increase by 50 percent, though the dream of a one-seat ride from Manhattan—floated as a possibility when the overhaul was announced, at $10 billion, last year—appears to be dead.

The lion's share of the project's funding will come from private money, with the Port Authority chipping in just 10 percent, or about $1 billion. The group of financiers footing the rest of the bill includes RXR Realty, whose CEO, Scott Rechler, was appointed to the MTA board by Cuomo last year.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/n...ion%2Fnyregion

Cuomo’s $13 Billion Solution to the Mess That Is J.F.K. Airport





By Patrick McGeehan
Oct. 4, 2018

At J.F.K., the new terminals — one to be built by a consortium of four foreign airlines and one by JetBlue Airways — will take several years to complete. In the meantime, the Port Authority plans to spend $1 billion on improvements to roadways and other infrastructure within the airport grounds.

Mr. Moss said the planned improvements to Terminal 1, one of two international terminals, would “turn the thing into a global shopping mall.” But he said that is the established trend in airports around the world, where a “captive audience” of travelers waiting to board planes is enticed to spend money in sleek shops and restaurants. “J.F.K. has been very slow to recognize that there’s more money to be made on the ground than in the planes,” he said.

Mr. Cotton said that a consortium of four foreign carriers — Lufthansa, Air France, Japan Airlines and Korean Airlines — had pledged to spend $7 billion to replace Terminals 1 and 2 with a massive terminal containing 23 gates and 230,000 square feet of stores and restaurants. He said that the complex would be operated by Munich Airport International and would be connected to Terminal 4, integrating the south side of the airport.

On the north side, he said, JetBlue has proposed to demolish Terminal 7 and build a $3 billion international terminal that would connect to the airline’s hub in Terminal 5. One of JetBlue’s development partners is RXR Realty, a Long Island-based company led by Scott Rechler, a former vice-chairman of the Port Authority and major campaign contributor to Mr. Cuomo.