Gov. Hochul Unveils New Terminal B At LaGuardia Airport After Massive $4 Billion Renovation
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The renovation of LaGuardia Airport reached another milestone Thursday.
Another upgrade was completed at the airport that was once the butt of jokes, CBS2's Andrea Grymes reported.
Gov. Kathy Hochul led the ribbon cutting on the brand new skybridge at Terminal B, the latest in a massive project to update the once dilapidated airport.
"Totally wowed. I mean, like everything is clean, modern and new," said traveler Carolyn Sandgren Kempf.
"It's very impressive, especially if you had to go through the old terminal," another traveler said.
It's a big change from LaGuardia's old dirty and dated condition, which wasn't lost on fliers, or President Joe Biden when he was vice president.
"If I took you and blindfolded you, and took you to LaGuardia Airport in New York, you must think ,'I must be in some third-world country.' I'm not joking," Biden famously said in 2014.
Thursday's event celebrated the new skybridge and the December completion of Terminal B's second concourse.
The entire terminal is a $4 billion project, which includes more than 1 million square feet, 35 gates, shops and amenities.
"We're gonna invite President Biden here and when he takes off the blindfold and sees this, he'll know that we listened," Hochul said.
"This is more than just a place where people take off and land. This is our front door to our city," Mayor Eric Adams said.
Construction started in 2016 with some growing pains as officials tweaked how to rebuild the airport while also keeping it operational. There were instances of traffic backups and travelers getting out of cars on the Grand Central Parkway to make their flights.
The work at LaGuardia is not over. Terminal C, another $4 billion project, is expected to be complete sometime this spring.
In another sign of how far the airport has come, La Guardia recently won a prestigious UNESCO Award for best new airport in the world.