Community Boards Approve Kennedy and LaGuardia Airport LeaseExtensions

December 29, 2003

Community Boards Approve Airport Lease Extensions
Queens Chronicle, NY 
 
   Southeast Queens’ community boards gave the green light last week to a 
city proposal that would extend the Port Authority’s lease on Kennedy and 
LaGuardia Airports. 
   But Community Boards 12 and 13 also raised concerns about overdevelopment 
and a $50-million fund that the Port Authority earmarked for Queens capital 
projects. The boards are also asking the authority and the city to give the 
community greater input on future airport-related decisions.  
   “There are some very significant issues related to quality of life, 
congestion, traffic, pollution and the environment,” said Richard 
Hellenbrecht, chairman of Community Board 13. “We have established a 
resolution supporting the new airport lease, but listing 10 or 11 conditions, 
many of them dealing with the protection of the natural areas.” 
   In October, Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city and 
the Port Authority renegotiated the leases for the two Queens airports, a 
breakthrough that had been sought for a decade. 
   The Port Authority agreed to pay a total of $700 million, including a 
$500-million lump sum and a $90-million-per-year increase over the current 
$3.5-million annual lease payment. 
   The deal includes the establishment of an Airport Board—comprised of 
unspecified city and Port Authority officials—to review operations, as well 
as $10 million for each of five years for capital projects in Queens. 
   In exchange for a lease that extends through 2050, the authority also asked 
for three parcels of city-owned land in and around the airport for navigational 
and other airport equipment. 
   The land will “assure certainty about the future administration of the 
airports” and allow the Port Authority and its subtenants to “undertake 
improvements,” according to the official proposal. The parcels include a 
120-acre site to the east of Runway 4R-22 Left and a smaller site to the south 
of Aqueduct Raceway. 
   In its resolution approving the lease extension, Community Board 13 
recommended that the 120-acre site be permanently designated as 
security-sensitive, while the land near Aqueduct be limited to parking. 
   In addition, the board asked that city-owned properties on Rockaway 
Boulevard between Springfield and Brookville Parks be “immediately designated 
as parkland,” and restored with natural vegetation. The city had been 
planning to sell some of the land for a strip mall. 
   “We are asking, as part of the $50-million capital program included in the 
lease, that the city set aside some of those areas that are a buffer between 
the airport and the community,” Hellenbrecht said. “That would preserve the 
traffic that currently exists on Rockaway Boulevard, and not make it any 
worse.” 
   Community Board 12, which unanimously approved the lease extension, focused 
its concerns on the maintenance of the AirTrain corridor and representation on 
the Airport Board. 
   “In view of the fact that the AirTrain is mostly in Board 12, we 
recommended that the Airport Board be expanded to include one community board 
representative,” said board Chairwoman Gloria Black. 
   Community Board 13, by contrast, would like the Airport Board to include the 
Queens Borough President and one city councilmember. 
   Community Board 12 also asked that the Port Authority extend its commitment 
to maintain the vicinity of the AirTrain indefinitely (the current obligation 
expires in 2006), and that lighting in one AirTrain tunnel on 143rd Street be 
improved. 
   In addition, both community boards want some say on how the $50 million 
earmarked for Queens capital projects are spent. 
   The Port Authority did not return a call for comment on the boards’ 
suggestions, but a spokeswoman for the city’s Economic Development 
Corporation—which controls most of the city-owned land near Kennedy 
Airport—said that the lease expansion provides substantial benefits to the 
area. 
   “It secures a fair rental payment to the city while giving us a 
significant role in planning for the growth and management of both JFK and 
LaGuardia Airports,” Janel Patterson said. “We are aware of Community Board 
13’s concerns. We will give the board’s input serious consideration as we 
move through the process.” 
 
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