New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA) is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay in the borough of Queens, New York. Although it is the smallest of New York's three commercial airports, the others being John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia is favored by many travelers due to its proximity to Manhattan, only eight miles to the east.
Named after Fiorello LaGuardia, a former mayor of New York, LaGuardia is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. With four terminals, the airport is a focus city for Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and US Airways with flights to destinations within the United States, Canada, Aruba, the Bahamas, and Bermuda.
Long Term Parking Daily and short-term parking can be found in garages and lots 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7, while long-term parking can be found in car park 3. The long-term parking lot offers a reduced rate, but there are a limited number of spaces and parking is, as always, on a first come basis.
Handicapped Parking A limited number of handicapped parking spaces are located in each parking lot near the entrance of the terminal.
Parking Rate - Rates for daily parking: $3 for first half hour, $6 up to 1 hour, $3 for every additional hour, Max rate is $30. Rates for long-term parking: $30 for the first two 24 hour periods; After 48 hours: $5 for each 8-hour period thereafter. Phone: 718-533-3850
Offsite ParkingIf you find yourself out of luck, follow the "P" signs to the airport exit towards the privately operated parking lots off-site which range from $14 to $20 a day. Try Air Park, Avi Star, The Crowne Plaza, National Airport Parking, Clarion Airport Parking, or Dollar Airport Parking.
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LaGuardia Airport (IATA: LGA, ICAO: KLGA, FAA LID: LGA) (pronounced La-Gwardia) is an airport serving New York City, New York, United States, located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst in the borough of Queens. The airport was originally named Glenn H. Curtiss Airport after aviation pioneer Glenn Hammond Curtiss[2] then renamed North Beach Airport[3], then later named for Fiorello La Guardia, a former mayor of New York. In 1960, it was voted the "greatest airport in the world" by the worldwide aviation community.[4] "LaGuardia Airport" is the official name of the airport according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the facility.
LaGuardia is the smallest of the New York metropolitan area's three primary commercial airports, the other two of which are John F. Kennedy International Airport in southern Queens and Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. It is larger however than nearby alternative airports Long Island MacArthur Airport in Suffolk County, Westchester County Airport in Westchester County, and to a lesser extent, Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, New York. LaGuardia is popular due to its central location and proximity to Manhattan. In spite of the airport's small size, wide-body aircraft once visited regularly; the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 were even specifically designed for use at LaGuardia. From 2000-2005 Delta operated the 767-400ER with 285 seats. Today, there are no scheduled widebody flights, though occasionally Delta rotates a Boeing 767-300 in for one of its many Atlanta flights. The airport serves as a focus city for Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, US Airways, and their regional affiliates.
Most flights from LaGuardia go to destinations within the US and Canada, as well as service to Aruba, the Bahamas and Bermuda. The airport has INS/FIS facilities capable of processing customs and immigration on arriving international flights; the facilities are insufficient to handle efficiently the number of passengers that a non-precleared scheduled airline service would require. LaGuardia is the busiest airport in the US without any non-stop service to and from Europe.[5]
A perimeter rule prohibits incoming and outgoing flights that exceed 1,500 miles (2,400 km)—except on Saturdays, when the ban is lifted, and to Denver, which was grandfathered in — so most transcontinental and international flights use the area's other two major airports, JFK and Newark.[6]
In 2007, the airport handled 25.3 million passengers; JFK handled 47.8 million[7] and Newark handled slightly more than 36.3 million[7], making for a total of approximately 111 million travelers using New York airports, which is the largest airport system in the United States and second in the world after London in terms of passenger traffic.
Construction
The three major airports serving New York City: JFK International (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA), Newark Liberty International (EWR). Floyd Bennett Field (1931–72)The initiative to develop the airport began with a verbal outburst by New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia (in office from 1934 to 1945) upon the arrival of his TWA flight at Newark — the only commercial airport serving the New York City region at the time — as his ticket said "New York".[citation needed] He demanded to be taken to New York, and ordered the plane to be flown to Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field, giving an impromptu press conference to reporters along the way. At that time, he urged New Yorkers to support a new airport within their city.[citation needed]
American Airlines accepted La Guardia's offer to start a pilot program of scheduled flights to Floyd Bennett, although the program failed after several months because of Newark's relative proximity to Manhattan (La Guardia went as far as to offer police escorts to airport limousines, in an attempt to get American to stay).[citation needed]
During the Floyd Bennett experiment, La Guardia and American executives began an alternative plan to build a new airport in Queens, where it could take advantage of the new Queens-Midtown Tunnel to Manhattan. This was the site eventually chosen for the new airport.[citation needed] Building on the site required moving landfill from Rikers Island, then a garbage dump, onto a metal reinforcing framework. The framework below the airport still causes magnetic interference on the compasses of outgoing aircraft: signs on the airfield warn pilots about the problem.[citation needed]
It cost New York City $23 million to turn the tiny North Beach Airport into a 550-acre modern facility. Newark Airport began renovations, but could not keep up with the new Queens airport, which Time called, "the most pretentious land and seaplane base in the world." Even before the project was completed, La Guardia had won commitments from the 5 largest airlines (Pan American Airways, American. United, Eastern Air Lines and Transcontinental & Western Air) that they would begin using the new field as soon as it opened.[8]
The airport was dedicated on October 15, 1939, as the New York Municipal Airport, and opened for business on that December 2.[2] Newspaper accounts alternately referred to the airfield as New York Municipal Airport and LaGuardia Field until the modern name was officially applied when the airport moved to Port of New York Authority control under a lease with New York City on June 1, 1947.[3]
Because of American's pivotal role in the development of the airport, La Guardia gave the airline extra real estate during the airport's first year of operation, including four hangars (an unprecedented amount of space at the time) and a large office space that would be turned into the world's first airline lounge, the LaGuardia Admirals Club.
[edit] Later development
LaGuardia Airport view from an airplaneAlthough LaGuardia was a very large airport for the era in which it was built, it soon became too small for the amount of air traffic it had to handle. Starting in 1968, general aviation aircraft were charged heavy fees to operate from LaGuardia during peak hours, driving many GA operators to airports such as Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, New Jersey. In 1984, to further combat overcrowding at LGA, the Port Authority instituted a "perimeter rule" banning flights from LaGuardia to cities more than 1,500 miles away (Western Airlines unsuccessfully challenged the rule in federal court). Later, the Port Authority also moved to connect JFK and Newark Airport to regional rail networks with the AirTrain Newark and AirTrain JFK, in an attempt to make these more distant airports competitive with LaGuardia. [4] In addition to these local regulations, the FAA also limited the number of flights and types of aircraft that could operate at LaGuardia (see 14 CFR § 193).
LaGuardia's traffic continued to grow. By 2000, the airport routinely experienced overcrowding-related delays, many of which were more than an hour long. That year, Congress passed legislation to revoke the federal traffic limits on LaGuardia by 2007. The reduced demand for air travel following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City quickly slowed LaGuardia's traffic growth, helping to mitigate the airport's delays. Ongoing Port Authority investments to renovate the Central Terminal Building and improve the airfield layout have also made the airport's operations more efficient in recent years.
Planes taking off from LaGuardia often fly directly over nearby Shea Stadium, causing disruptions at New York Mets games.
In late 2006, construction began to replace the current tower, built in 1962, with a more modern one.
LaGuardia has four terminals connected by buses and walkways.
[edit] Central Terminal Building (CTB)
The Central Terminal Building (CTB) serves most of LaGuardia's domestic airlines. It is six blocks long, consisting of a four-story central section, two three-story wings and four concourses (A, B, C, and D) with 38 aircraft gates.[12] It was dedicated on April 17, 1964, and cost $36 million. Delta and US Airways left the CTB in 1983 and 1992 respectively to their own dedicated terminals on the east side of the airport. The Port Authority and various airlines have carried out a $340 million improvement project in the 1990s and early 2000s to expand and renovate the existing space.
[edit] US Airways Terminal
The 300,000 square foot US Airways Terminal, designed by William Nicholas Bodouva + Associates Architects and Planners, was opened September 12, 1992, at a cost of $250 million. The original tenant was intended to be Eastern Airlines. Trump Shuttle later occupied the terminal before selling the gate leases to US Airways. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says that the terminal handles approximately 50% of regional airliner traffic at LaGuardia.
LaGuardia Airport appears as a level in the computer game Deus Ex. The level itself takes place in a private section of LaGuardia that is owned by Juan Lebedev, a prominent member of the NSF. LaGuardia airport of 1939 nearly receives the landing of a Boeing 707 jetliner in the Twilight Zone episode The Odyssey of Flight 33, but then the crew sees the 1939 World's Fair site and realize they did not come forward in time far enough to be home. They do not make the landing they've been cleared for at LaGuardia. LaGuardia Airport is featured, and is the only airport, in the 2006 game Driver Parallel Lines. Although the player cannot enter the terminal, the runway area and a few of the parking lots are accessible. In the 1978 era there are hangers with ramps to jump off of, and in 2006 there are gates and a new entrance from the road out front, which is one-way, opposed to the two way road in 1978. The surrounding area's geography is changed to incorporate a racetrack and a Ray's Garage.
