QUEENS, NY – Borough President Melinda Katz stated the following about the recommendations released today by the Governor’s Airport Advisory Panel, on which Borough President Katz serves:

“This is an important juncture for Queens. Infrastructure upgrades are critical to the economic engines of our borough and our city and to remain competitive. With the recommendations by this panel and with the Governor’s leadership, we are moving forward in creating 21st century, state-of-the-art airport and entry portals that are befitting of the international capital of the world.

“As much as LaGuardia and JFK International are tremendous economic assets to Queens and to the region, with them has come the need to mitigate the direct, daily impacts of growth upon the thousands of families immediately surrounding them. When convening this blue-ribbon panel on which I have had the pleasure to serve, the Governor charged us with ensuring that community needs are addressed, especially with regard to noise and alleviating traffic congestion.

“To this end, we recommend the Port Authority expand its Aircraft Noise program throughout construction phases of the new LaGuardia. The Port Authority has already commenced with the Part 150 Airport Noise Compatibility studies, as well as installing additional monitors to track aircraft noise. Our recommendations also call for creating at LaGuardia a cell phone lot, consolidating the ten nearby off-site car rental locations and bringing them onto airport property, and creating more short- and long-term airport parking. These measures are designed to immediately help alleviate traffic and congestion plaguing the neighborhoods in the vicinity. In addition, the $4 billion project for the construction of the new Terminal B will mean more jobs and more opportunities – especially for M/WBEs – in the near future, which are without a doubt good for Queens.”

The Governor’s Airport Advisory Panel is charged with producing recommendations on redesigns and modernization for our region’s airports, and is comprised of the following appointees by the Governor: Amanda Burden, former commissioner of the New York City Department of City Planning; Tony Collins, co-chair of the North Country Regional Economic Development Council; Jose Gomez-Ibanez, Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government and Harvard’s Graduate School of Design; Queens Borough President Melinda Katz; DanTishman, CEO of Tishman Construction Corporation; Jacqueline Snyder, former head of the New York City Public Design Commission; John Zuccotti, co-chair of Brookfield Office Properties.