NEW YORK — Plans for a rail link that would have connected LaGuardia Airport to New York City’s subway and commuter rail system were abandoned Monday after intense criticism over its price tag of more than $2.4 billion and the potential effects on surrounding neighborhoods.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul accepted recommendations made by a panel of transportation experts who determined that increasing bus service and adding a shuttle would be more feasible in the short term. Hochul’s action effectively means that LaGuardia, in the borough of Queens, across the East River from Manhattan, will remain among the major US airports without rail service.
Former Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed the 1.5-mile elevated link in 2015, similar to the one serving John F. Kennedy International Airport in other parts of Queens. The link was envisioned to serve air travelers who currently rely on taxi and car services, and was originally estimated to cost $450 million.
Hochul ordered a review of the project after Cuomo resigned in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal. By then, criticism of the plan had intensified, with elected officials and environmental advocates saying the new train would damage the Queens neighborhoods it traversed and wouldn’t be much faster than driving.
Democratic Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, who represents part of the area the link would have passed through, spoke out against it, as did former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
In a lawsuit filed in 2021, environmental and neighborhood groups asked the FAA to ask the Port Authority to halt the project, alleging that Cuomo and the Port Authority pushed it too quickly and used arbitrary selection criteria to avoid meaningful consideration. of numerous alternatives to the rail link.
Some of those alternatives include ferry service, extension of existing metro lines, and optimized bus service using dedicated lanes.
In a statement prepared Monday, Hochul thanked the airport’s operator, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, for “providing a clear and cost-effective path.”
“I accept the recommendations in this report and look forward to their immediate implementation by the Port Authority in close coordination with our partners at the (Metropolitan Transportation Authority), in New York City and the federal government,” he said.
