QUEENS, N.Y. — Dozens of Queens residents, civic leaders and transit enthusiasts came to the Marriott Hotel in East Elmhurst to learn more about the Port Authority’s ideas to improve transit to LaGuardia Airport.

The decision to study new transit alternatives followed Gov. Hochul’s decision to ground former Gov. Cuomo’s plans to construct an AirTrain.

What You Need To Know

  • The Port Authority held an information session for Queens residents to give feedback on over a dozen transit options being studied for LaGuardia Airport

  • The Port Authority is studying an extension of the N and W subway lines, new bus routes and a ferry

  • Gov. Hochul stopped Cuomo’s plan for an AirTrain to LaGuardia at Mets-Willets Point, criticized for its design and effectiveness as a transportation

Roje Gibson, a city school teacher, recalled a recent trip from the airport where he hopped on the wrong bus.

“When I arrived, it’s always a little confusing even though I live in the borough,” Gibson said. “But trying to take mass transit, first you have to find out where it is because I didnt want to pay a crazy amount for an Uber.”

Travel to LaGuardia is limited to hitching a ride with a friend or relative, a pricey cab, or taking one of two bus lines – each option, susceptible to traffic jams.

“Truthfully I would have preferred to just take a train,” Gibson said.

That is one of the options the port authority is considering – extending the N and W lines above ground to LaGuardia Airport.

Other travel alternatives include new bus-only routes, a ferry through the East River, or an emerging technology, like a personal rapid transit pod.

The Port Authority could also pursue an AirTrain similar to Cuomo’s proposal, which connects the airport to Mets-Willet Point – or an AirTrain in a new location.

Hersh Parekh, a Port Authority official said, the consensus he hears is that LaGuardia Airport needs a better mass transit link.

“When I have family or friends that fly into LaGuardia they always ask me, well, Hersh you work for the airports what's the fastest way to get to my destination and right now, their only option is a taxi or a personal vehicle or there is bus access but we don’t see it used as heavily as it could be,” Parekh said.

Many homeowners, some of whom can walk to LaGuardia Airport when they need to fly, had the opportunity to express concerns they have for any project that gets approved for takeoff.

“No necessity to take by eminent domain, private property,” Rose Marie Poveromo, president of the United Community Civic Association, said. “No one should lose their property for anything, for public comfort.

“I’m not opposed to the bus or maybe expanding additional or existing subway lines,” Keely Glasse, Queens homeowner, said. “I think a big project that disrupts the houses along Ditmars Boulevard that might impact the marina, I’m less inclined to go along with something like that.”