September 22, 2020
Nearly 100 Organizations and Transit Experts Endorse AirTrain LaGuardia
Growing Support for Direct Rail Link Now Includes All Five New York City Chambers of Commerce
As representatives of New York’s business community, hospitality and tourism industry, and building and construction trade unions, we have joined together in support of an infrastructure project that we believe is not only a vital transportation link that is long overdue, but that is also critical to our economic recovery – AirTrain LaGuardia.
We’ve now heard from 95 organizations and transit leaders that have pledged support for this project, including endorsements from 43 building and construction trade unions, all five New York City Chambers of Commerce, local Queens business leaders as well as the Business Council of New York State, and a group of 12 former New York City and State transportation leaders earlier this week. (Full list of supporters below.)
While New York has led the way in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to face a steep climb in rebuilding our economy. One third of small businesses in New York City may be gone forever; construction employment is down by more than 13 percent and, after a decade of consecutive record-setting years, the tourism industry has been devastated.
Despite the challenges, we remain confident that New York will come back. From our earliest days, this is a city that has proven it can get back on its feet. And one of the strategies we’ve relied on is to build our way back by investing in infrastructure that creates good paying jobs now, when we need them, while building the foundation for growth well into the future.
The organizations on this list represent a broad cross-section of the city and its industries and we believe AirTrain LaGuardia is the perfect example of smart investment. Construction will fuel employment and spending for businesses in the local Queens community and across the region at a time when it is desperately needed.
The project, slated to begin construction as early as next year, would support 3,000 good-paying union construction jobs and drive hundreds of millions of dollars in contracting opportunities to Local, Minority, and Women-owned businesses.
AirTrain LaGuardia’s benefits will continue to bolster our economy for decades to come by creating a mass rail transit link to the airport that will provide a fast and dependable ride to and from Midtown Manhattan of 30 minutes or less.
Today, 93 percent of travel to LaGuardia is by private vehicle or private shuttles. Relying on vehicles means that travelers, too often, spend their first and last hours in New York stuck in traffic. With the historic, $8 billion investment to transform LaGuardia into the nation’s most technologically sophisticated airport, it is ludicrous to think that it should remain as the only major airport on the East Coast without a mass transit rail link.
AirTrain also offers a reliable, green alternative that will reduce vehicle emissions and congestion that has hampered local business operations. Surveys of passengers at LaGuardia indicate that as many as 10 million would use AirTrain and its connections through a new station at Willets Point to the Long Island Rail Road and the No. 7 subway to Manhattan, with direct access to Grand Central Terminal, Times Square, Penn Station, and the Javits Convention Center.
Those connections will be an important asset as we rebuild our tourism and convention industry, while making New York more inviting and easier to navigate for business travelers who will have greater options for conducting business virtually in the future. AirTrain will make our city more competitive.
In Queens, we have seen the potential for AirTrain to serve as a critical spark for local economic development. AirTrain JFK, with a station connecting to the LIRR in downtown Jamaica, was a catalyst for more than $1 billion in private and public investment to date, with more in development.
AirTrain LaGuardia could do the same for the long-anticipated redevelopment of Willets Point adjacent to the new station, helping turn a blighted industrial district into a neighborhood filled with new housing, retail, hotels, schools, and parks.
The need for a rail link has been debated and discussed since LaGuardia Airport opened. While there has been no shortage of ideas over the past eight decades, there has been a lack of will to overcome obstacles and build smartly for the future. Until now.
AirTrain as proposed by the Port Authority and strongly supported by Governor Andrew Cuomo is a project that can be built. Unlike other alternatives, AirTrain LaGuardia would take no private property and would not run through any residential neighborhood or commercial districts. It would be separated from the nearest homes by the 8-lane Grand Central Parkway.
AirTrain LaGuardia has the near unanimous support of the state Legislature and has received initial approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, which is conducting an environmental review. As the project moves into its final review period, we are hopeful that AirTrain LaGuardia will be cleared for takeoff. This project represents an opportunity to help rebuild our economy in a way that makes our roads less congested, helps us combat global warming, and supports one of the city’s top economic engines at LaGuardia Airport. That’s why we whole-heartedly support AirTrain LaGuardia.
Signed,
The Co-Chairs of A Better Way to LGA
Tom Grech, Queens Chamber of Commerce
Carlo A. Scissura, New York Building Congress
Laura Colacurcio, Association for a Better New York (ABNY)
Chris Boylan, General Contractors Association of New York
AirTrain LGA supporters include:
Building Groups, Real Estate, Trade Unions
General Contractors Association of New York
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
New York Building Congress
Real Estate Board of New York
Transport Workers Union
Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York
Boilermakers Local #5
*NYC & Vicinity District Council of Carpenters
Carpenters Local 20
Carpenters Local 45
Carpenters Local 157
Carpenters Local 926
Dockbuilders/Timberman Local 1556
Millwright & Machinery Erectors Local 740
Resilient Floor Coverers Local Union #2287
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - IBEW Local 3
International Union of Elevator Constructors - Elevator Constructors Local 1
International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Heat & Frost Insulators Local 12
International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Heat & Frost Insulators Local 12A
International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers - *Iron Workers District Council
IronWorkers Local 361
Ironworkers Local 40
Ornamental IronWorkers Local 580
Metal Lathers Local 46
Derrickmen & Riggers Local 197
*Concrete Workers District Council No. 16
Cement & Concrete Workers Local 6A
Cement & Concrete Workers Local 18A
Cement & Concrete Workers Local 20
*Mason Tenders District Council
Asbestos Lead & Hazardous Waste Laborers Local 78
Construction & General Laborers Local 79
Building Concrete & Excavating Laborers Local 731
Pavers & Roadbuilders DC, Laborers Local Union 1010
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 14
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 15, 15A, 15B, 15C & 15D
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 30
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 94
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades- *Painters District Council No. 9
Metal Polishers Local 8A-28A
Painters Structural Steel Local 806
Glaziers Local 1087
Drywall Tapers Local 1974
Operative Plasterers' and Cement Masons' International Association of the United States and Canada -Plasterers Local 262
Operative Plasterers' and Cement Masons' International Association of the United States and Canada -Cement Masons Local #780
United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry of the United States & Canada - UA Plumbers Local 1
United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry of the United States & Canada - Steamfitters Local 638
United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers - Roofers & Waterproofers Local 8
Sheet Metal Workers' International Association - Sheet Metal Workers Local 28
Sheet Metal Workers' International Association - Sheet Metal Workers Local 137
International Brotherhood of Teamsters - Teamsters Local 282
International Brotherhood of Teamsters - Teamsters Local 814
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers - Tile, Marble & Terrazzo Local 7
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers - Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 1
Business Community
Association for a Better New York
Bronx Chamber of Commerce
Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
Business Council of New York State
Downtown Alliance
Flushing Chinese Business Association
Grand Central Partnership
Greater Jamaica Development Corporation
Long Island Association
Long Island City Partnership
Manhattan Chamber of Commerce
Queens Chamber of Commerce
Queens Economic Development Corporation
Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
Tech:NYC
Times Square Alliance
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Hospitality, Tourism, Airline Industries
Delta
Global Business Travel Association
Global Gateway Alliance
Hotel Association of New York City
Hotel Trades Council
JetBlue
LaGuardia Gateway Partners
United Airlines
Local Community Stakeholders
New York Mets
NYU Rudin Center
Right Track for Long Island
Vaughn College
Vision Long Island
Transit Experts
Elliot G. Sander, former MTA CEO and former NYCDOT Commissioner
Gerard Soffian, former NYCDOT Deputy Commissioner
Lucius J. Riccio, former NYCDOT Commissioner
Maria Lehman, former NYSTA acting Executive Director and Director of Operations
Michael Fleischer, former NYSDOT Deputy Commissioner and former NYSTA Executive Director
Michael Horodniceanu, former MTA Capital Construction President & former NYCDOT Traffic Commissioner
Michael Shamma, former NYSTA Chief Engineer and former NYSDOT Chief Engineer
Ross Sandler, former NYCDOT Commissioner
Samuel I. Schwartz, former NYCDOT Traffic Commissioner and Chief Engineer
Stephen Morgan, former NYSTA Executive Director
Thomas J. Madison, Jr., former NYSDOT Commissioner, former NYSTA Executive Director & former FHWA Administrator
Thomas Prendergast, former MTA Chair and CEO, and former President MTA NYCT