Cuomo Unveils $13 Billion JFK Overhaul, Promises Subway Is 'Next'

Governor Andrew Cuomo just announced a massive overhaul of a beleaguered transportation network in desperate need of serious public investment. That's right, baby: Another airport's getting a facelift.

During a morning meeting hosted by the Association for a Better New York on Thursday, Governor Cuomo unveiled plans and renderings for a $13 billion modernization of John F. Kennedy International Airport, which he says will transform the hub into “one of the finest airports in the world." Fixing the subway, he assured reporters, would come "next."

Come 2025, at least, getting the hell out of New York is projected to become slightly more pleasant. The staggering investment promises to bring two new international terminal complexes to the airport, along with state-of-the-art security, digital signage, world-class passenger amenities, and improved roadways on the Van Wyck Expressway (a driving experience that Cuomo likened to "splinters under my fingernails.") AirTrain capacity is projected to increase by 50 percent, though the dream of a one-seat ride from Manhattan—floated as a possibility when the overhaul was announced, at $10 billion, last year—appears to be dead.

Critics have also questioned why the plan does not include a new runway, which planners say will be essential to meet the rising demand expected in the coming years. The number of passengers served by JFK increased by 23 percent in the last decade, according to the Port Authority, which operates the airport. The airport consistently ranks among the worst in the country for on-time rates, with more than a quarter of flights arriving late, and just 77.7 percent of flights departing on time.

The lion's share of the project's funding will come from private money, with the Port Authority chipping in just 10 percent, or about $1 billion. The group of financiers footing the rest of the bill includes RXR Realty, whose CEO, Scott Rechler, was appointed to the MTA board by Cuomo last year. A few months later, Rechler gave $65,000 to the governor's reelection campaign—despite an executive order ostensibly preventing such appointees from donating to the politicians who appointed them. Neither the governor nor the Joint Commission on Public Ethics responded to Gothamist's questions about a possible conflict.

Also on display Thursday morning: Cuomo's not terribly nuanced obsession with New York's ruthless, suburb-fetishizing master planner. "We're building more than has been built since Robert Moses, in a more sensitive, community-friendly way," Cuomo declared to the Power Breakfast attendees. "Not to criticize Robert Moses." Okay.

But after ticking off a list of other sizable infrastructure pet projects—Penn Station, the Javits Center, the Mario Cuomo Bridge, and LaGuardia—the governor did eventually turn his attention to the subways.

"It is something that we have to do and we have to come to terms with it," Governor Cuomo, who controls the MTA, explained. "What is the obstacle to rebuilding the subway system? It is the money, honey."