NEW YORK — Workers have completed the “final piece” of a $4 billion project to transform LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B: a western sky bridge connecting the transit hub’s arrivals and departures hall to its western concourse, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday.

Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams and other elected officials gathered inside the airport in Queens Thursday morning to mark the completion of construction at the terminal.

What You Need To Know

  • Workers have completed a $4 billion project to transform LaGuardia Airport's Terminal B, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday

  • The "final piece" of the project was a western sky bridge connecting the airport's arrivals and departures hall to its western concourse, Hochul said

  • The project kicked off in June 2016 and included a 3,000-car parking garage, a new shelter for taxis and "incredible, stunning art," the governor said

  • The airport's new Terminal C is on track to open in the spring, according to Hochul

The entire project, which kicked off in June 2016, also included 35 airport gates, a 3,000-car parking garage, a new shelter for taxis and “incredible, stunning art,” Hochul said.

Construction wrapped up nearly eight years after then-Vice President Joe Biden compared LaGuardia to a transportation hub travelers might pass through “in a third world country,” the governor recalled.

LaGuardia Terminal B. (NY1/Richard Agostinoni)

“I do want to thank someone who helped put a little spotlight on this back in 2014, I believe it was around Feb. 5 or 6,” she said. “We’re going to invite President Biden here, and when he takes off the blindfold and sees this, he’ll know that we listened, we engaged, and we made sure that yes, this is the best place in the world — and those are not just my words.”

LaGuardia’s Terminal B last month won UNESCO's 2021 Prix Versailles award for “best new airport in the world,” Hochul noted.

The airport's new Terminal C is on track to open in the spring, the governor said, adding that the new wing was “going to be magnificent.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams and other elected officials cuts the ribbon on the new Western Pedestrian Skybridge in the new Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport on Thursday. (Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

Adams on Thursday called LaGuardia the “front door to our city.”

“If your first welcoming sign is not a signature of the greatness of your city, then it sends the wrong message that carries us all the way through,” he said.

LaGuardia Airport Terminal B. (Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

“Today, when we open Terminal B, we are saying, New York City is taking flight, and we are not going to remain on the ground,” he added. “We’re going to bring back our economy. We’re going to bring back the resiliency of the people of this city. Don’t ever bet against New York City. You will lose.”