What the massive $13 billion overhaul of JFK Airport will look like
NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City is set for a major makeover.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and officials from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Thursday announced a seven-year, $13 billion transformation of JFK.
"The state that leads in transportation and infrastructure and technology is going to be the state where the economy wins," Cuomo said at the announcement. "That can be New York, and we are on the track to do it."
The renovated airport will feature two new international terminals, centralized ground transportation, and better roadways, Cuomo said.
A consortium of four international airlines—Lufthansa, Air France, Japan Airlines and Korean Air Lines—called the Terminal One Group will develop a 2.9-million-square-foot terminal on JFK's south side.
This massive terminal will replace the current Terminals 1 and 2, which officials say are undersized and "functionally obsolete," respectively, as well as the vacant land where the demolished Terminal 3 once stood.
JetBlue Airways will develop a 1.2-million-square-foot terminal on the north side of the airport to house the airline and its partners. This structure will connect to JetBlue's existing Terminal 5, which opened a decade ago.
To build the new terminal, JetBlue will demolish Terminal 7, which is almost 50 years old, and also use the space where Terminal 6 was before its demolition in 2011.
The governor's office said construction should begin in 2020 and should be substantially completed in 2025. The first new gates are scheduled to open in 2023.
The Port Authority has pledged to increase the frequency and capacity of the AirTrain JFK system. To complement that, the MTA is building a new platform at the Long Island Rail Road's Jamaica Station that will accommodate 12-car trains.
The state's Department of Transportation has budgeted $1.5 billion to improve the highways near and leading to the airport, including the Van Wyck Expressway and its link at the Kew Gardens Interchange.
"There's a moment in time for us to seal our future and our fate as the number one state in the nation again," Cuomo said. "Fortune favors the bold and New York is the state of the bold."