Hochul: Remodeled Delta terminal at LaGuardia ready to take off

Terminal C at LaGuardia Airport will open this week, marking an end to a $8 billion overhaul of the Queens facility, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday.

“We celebrate basically the completion, there’s a little bit more teardown that has to go on, but the build up is complete,” the governor said at a news conference inside the refurbished terminal, which will open Saturday.

The 1.3-million-square-foot terminal for Delta Air Lines will have floor-to-ceiling windows, 36 full-service check-in counters, 49 self-service kiosks, and six artworks curated by the Queens Museum on display. The artwork includes sculptures and painted ceramic murals detailing New York City’s immigrant history, officials said.

“When people come to this terminal, to this airport, they will know that they are in New York,” said Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, at the news conference with Hochul and other officials.

The six-year construction project is part of work at LaGuardia Airport to remodel terminals and concourses.

While there is no train connection to the airport, the Port Authority, which operates the facility, released 14 public transportation proposals in March. Two of the proposals would add light-rail lines at Long Island Rail Road stations at Jamaica and 61st St.- Woodside.

The opening of the terminal by Delta marks nearly $7 billion the Atlanta-based airline has invested in New York airports since 2010, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said at the news conference. At LaGuardia, there are now 37 Delta gates.

In January, officials opened Terminal B, serving airlines including Air Canada, American, Southwest and United. That project was constructed and operated by a private consortium, LaGuardia Gateway Partners, at a cost of $4 billion, Newsday reported at the time.

Terminal C also cost $4 billion — including a $500 million investment by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the governor’s office said.

Hochul urged President Joe Biden to see the airport because she said “your jaw is going to drop.”

In 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden compared the facility to “some Third World country,” an assessment he made while discussing the need for infrastructure improvements nationwide.