The last vestiges of the old LaGuardia Airport in New York are now only a memory of the past with yesterday’s opening of Delta’s new Terminal C, which replaces the old Terminals C and D.
Once derided by, among others, Vice-President Biden as a “third world airport,” the close-in airport now has all new terminals, parking garages and roadways. All that’s needed now is a viable one-seat airport-to-city option, but that’s sadly way off.
Terminal B, the former Central Terminal, has been in operation since June, 2020, finishing construction and connections while operating. A massive reconfiguration of the airport has moved the terminals well back from the field leaving more room for taxiways and on-field facilities.
Terminal C shares its general appearance, with airy spaces and upgraded amenities with the other terminals but it also has a unique feature: Two entry areas so that passengers with bags to check will enter the terminal opposite the check-in area, while those with only carry-ons and completed boarding passes will use an overhead path directly to security screening.
As for transportation to the city, little new to report. An earlier plan for an AirTrain that would head a couple of miles east to drop passengers at subway and commuter rail to head back the opposite way to the city was dropped, and studies are underway for other options, including a possible subway extension. In the meantime, the city’s #70 bus, which connects the terminals to a major subway and bus junction off airport, has now been made free.
