AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2020 - 31

Will it fly?

New York Port Authority officials hope the modern Terminal B will spur a revival of
air travel from LaGuardia. Perhaps, but only if you're flying one of the four airlines
that use it. Passengers flying other airlines will still pass through one of LaGuardia's
aging terminals. Some individual concourses at Terminals C and D have been replaced, but the entire airport renovation is not slated to be completed until 2026.
Terminal B is an excellent start to improving LaGuardia's passenger experience, with
modern dining options; numerous shops; large bathrooms; and airy, art-filled spaces.
However, LaGuardia struggles with an ever-increasing number of passengers and is
wedged on a small piece of land with no room for expansion. We'll see if this shiny,
modern terminal makes boarding an airliner any faster and less stressful, or if it'll just
be a pleasanter place to wait for your delayed flight to depart.
-DKJ

Central Terminal ceased and the modern, light- and artfilled $4 billion Terminal B opened. The new terminal, which
serves Air Canada, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and
United Airlines, is just part of a complete $8 billion renovation of the airport.
The new terminal is 50 percent larger and offers 50 shops
and restaurants, outdoor dining with Manhattan views, and
four contemporary art installations. Using 625,000 ceramic
tiles, artist Laura Owens covered 25,000 square feet of the terminal walls-almost half the size of a football field-to create
a mosaic skyscape of white clouds in a blue sky with iconic
images of New York City, including a hot dog, ice cream truck
(right), pizza slice, MetroCard, subway signs, and a Boeing
We Love NY
LaGuardia Airport is named for Fiorello La Guardia (1882-1947),
Clipper. Another art piece is a globe made of metal rods that
a politician best known as the mayor of New York City from
is suspended from the departure-level ceiling and reaches
1934 to 1945 and for leading the city through the Great
through an opening in the floor to the baggage claim level
Depression and World War II. He was instrumental in building
below.
large-scale infrastructure in the city: highways, tunnels, bridges,
The historic Terminal A-Marine Air Terminal-which was
and airports. New York Municipal Airport in Queens, on the
shore of Flushing Bay, was dedicated in 1939 and renamed
built in 1939 and served PanAm's flying boats in the 1940s, is
LaGuardia Airport after his death in 1947. (LaGuardia is the
the general aviation terminal at LaGuardia. It has a rich hisairport; La Guardia is the man.)
tory and features Flight, a 12-foot-by-237-foot Art Deco mural
depicting man's history with flying that was painted as part
of the Works Progress Administration. Terminal A currently
is noted for serving corporate jets.
New York 'Aviation'
This will get your wheels up
The LaGuardia overhaul
of Terminal B and the continuThe classic "Aviation" cocktail was created by the head bartender at the
ing renovation of the entire
Hotel Wallick in New York City during the early years of the twentieth
airport "should have been
century. The original recipe called for a quarter-ounce of Crème de
done decades and decades and
Violette, a violet liqueur that gave the cocktail a sky-blue color. For
years, Crème de Violette was almost impossible to find. With the recent
decades ago," Cuomo said, "it's
cocktail renaissance, Crème de Violette is once again available in major
long overdue."
DENNIS K. JOHNSON is an avia-

tion writer and pilot living in
New York.

urban area liquor stores.
* 2 ounces London dry gin
* ½-ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
* ¼-ounce Crème de Violette liqueur
* ½-ounce maraschino liqueur
Shake the ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and
serve without a garnish. Stay grounded for a minimum of eight hours.

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