Port Authority Statement on the Release of the Federal Aviation Administration's Environmental Impact Statement on AirTrain LGA Pro

“[On March 15] the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released its Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the AirTrain LGA, the proposed rail mass transit link to the new LaGuardia Airport. In the EIS, the FAA reaffirmed its endorsement of the Port Authority’s proposed alignment as its preferred alternative based on the FAA’s independent and comprehensive review of the project and all alternatives. 

“This milestone represents a very important step forward in building a rapid, reliable, and sustainable rail mass transit link to the airport. We appreciate the time and effort the FAA has put into its exhaustive review of the project, yielding a final EIS of 600 pages with 25,000 pages of supporting appendices.

“The proposed AirTrain will create an environmentally-friendly, predictable, and efficient 30-minute rail connection between LaGuardia Airport and midtown Manhattan. Once complete, AirTrain LGA will improve access to LaGuardia for millions of travelers and thousands of airport workers each day. This sustainable rail link will also remove millions of vehicles from local highways and streets each year, reduce congestion on roads in local neighborhoods, and reducing air pollution in the local community.

“The EIS also itemizes many community benefits that will become part of the project to address project impacts and to respond to comments from community members. The project benefits include economic activity driven by the $2 billion project which will create 3,000 construction jobs and $500 million in contracting opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses as well as contracting opportunities for local, Queens-based businesses. The project will fund investments in workforce development, educational opportunities, and community events. The project benefits also include transparent and accountable mitigation measures for visual and construction impacts. 

“In addition, in direct response to public comment and community recommendations, the project now includes more than $50 million in commitments to transformational investments in the Flushing Bay Promenade and other local parks. These investments include funding for long-term operation and maintenance of the Promenade, as particularly requested by the community, as well as capital improvements.”