New York LaGuardia Meltdown: It Was Like a Post-Apocalyptic TV Series on the Syfy Network

by Gary Leff

DC’s metro is in such disrepair that last fall they closed much of it for three days over a holiday weekend and getting to the airport became so bad people were abandoning their cars on the street and walking the rest of the way. Airport trips were taking up to three hours with “[t]he last 50 minutes of the journey ..just the airport road to departures.”

Yesterday was New York LaGuardia’s turn. And in some ways things were worse, because New York. Things got so bad that “the Port Authority shut down Terminals C and D to all traffic except Port Authority buses.”

Other than being a heavy travel day, there’s nothing particularly unusual or different about LaGuardia this week than last week. However airport renovations have made a dilapidated but super convenient airport incredibly difficult on passengers.

There were children walking down the highway, like refugees, hoping to escape the war zone for the airport.

It was like a badly produced post-apocalyptic television series on the Syfy network.

Today? Things could even be worse.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  2. You really are very out of touch on the state of the DC metro. It’s not in disrepair at all and has improved mightily in the past 3 years. There’s a major renovation project going on on the yellow line that’s been WELL documented and communicated. Yes, there was a slow down one day, but that is NOT the norm. And DCA is undergoing a very very intense reconstruction project that is impacting roadway access, which has also been WELL communicated. You really should do better research, rather than mischaracterizing a whole system.

  3. Don’t be racist against the rats they didn’t do anything wrong
    and they rightfully live there too

  4. @Jason – I heartily disagree with your characterization, not only did I live there for 18 years but I’m back there every month, and I read the IG and federal reports on WMATA

  5. 5 hours from LGA-JFK. !!!

    I was on DL1644 from MSY-LGA non-stop. We arrived into LGA on time at 1615. Then we sat on the tarmac until 1730. 85 minutes sitting there because the airport fools never had their act together. I finally escaped the plane at 1740pm. The baggage came off relatively quickly, they have a 20 minute guarantee at LGA and it came well within that.

    Now to get to Hilton Garden Inn at JFK.

    I needed to take the NYC Airporter to JFK. I went outside Term C and there were lots of helpful Airport Agents. Very good actually under very trying circumstances. “The next shuttle here at 1800 sir”. Great! At 1830 still waiting so I called them. NYC Airporter ( Golden Touch ) “Oh no Sir, we cancelled all LGA shuttles, too hard for the shuttles to get in and out”. WTF! You just canceled! Only in NYC do they get way with this because the animals in NYC allow them to do it and still support them.

    So I thought Uber. $70 – $80 to go to JFK!! No thanks.

    So I asked an agent another way using Public Transport. “Oh it’s easy Sir. Take the Q7 free bus to the Subway station at Roosevelt Jackson Heights, then take the E train to Sutphin Boulevard, then the Airtrain to Federal Circle”.

    So I did all that. Got to Federal Circle, a massive, massive lightning show and heavy rain came down upon us. Waited for the Hilton Garden Inn shuttle. 15 minutes wait, arrived at hotel at 2105.

    So 5 hours from from touchdown at LGA to check-in at HGI JFK. For those who have never been to New York that is a distance of 9.5 miles / 15 kms.

    So well done you clowns running NYC. Bill deBlasio running for President! WTF? Never had a real job, only ever lived off taxpayer teet.

    Presiding over transport in NYC the worst in 50 years, the place is filthy and the people are bordering on being animals. It’s a zoo. Never again NY. I will never spend another cent in that cesspool. New Yorkers should be ashamed they have let it get to this.

    And as for you @jason “It’s not in disrepair at all and has improved mightily in the past 3 years” You are the essence of the issue in that cesspool of shit. You accept anything the bludgers in government dish out to you.

    Demand more man. Rise up. Stop taking their crap and accepting mediocrity. Be strong. You in NY pay more tax than anyone else in the country and you live in a filthy, dirty, corrupt city full of animals.

    But wait a minute, on second thoughts, stay there man, we don’t want the scourge of NYC infecting the rest of the country.

    And we especially don’t want deBlasio spreading his type of bile to the rest us in the USA

  6. RE: “It was like a badly produced post-apocalyptic television series on the Syfy network.”

    No surprise.

    Just like the massive “bait & switch” pulled off by our Imperious Governor who promised New Yorkers a gorgeous, bright & airy “21st Century Gateway” befitting a global capital, complete with oh so pretty, but alas, now obviously fake/too good to be true renderings of the beautiful airport we’re SO NOT getting with the ugly, cheapAF looking, Port Authority Bus Terminal that we’re getting instead – for $8 billion, that is.

    And that doesn’t include the now estimated to be $2+ billion for our Imperial Guv, who now also fancies himself an expert in mass transportation that he is yet still going full-on balls to the wall cramming down our throats for his stupid, dinky, ridiculous, half-baked, pretend (air)train that will take longer, and cost 3x more, than the existing bus (or bus & subway connection) to/from Manhattan featuring a mandatory change of trains via escalators (if working) that go either only up or down, but not both directions at the same time from platforms to mezzanine levels; maybe an elevator (if working and not doubling as a public urinal; or of course, a flight or two or three of pretty steep stairs for pax who likely also are schlepping baggage; or babies & baby strollers; or pets and more when they’re heading to/from the airport at – wait for it – an out of the way hub to be built adjacent to citifield and the USTA Tennis Center where the US Open is held that’s deserted except when the Met’s play home games, or for 2-weeks in late summer when the US Open takes place!

    Go figure!

    Yep, this boneheaded, guaranteed to be wasted money of a boondoggle if ever there were one, is so hated and unwanted that all three local newspapers, The NY Times, Post & Daily News which practically never agree on anything, all agree that this is the dumbest thing ever, with the Daily News derisively calling Master Transportation Planner Cuomo’s pathetic little wannabe train a “ridiculous trolley”.

    So, gee, is it any wonder that “It was like a badly produced post-apocalyptic television series on the Syfy network“ yesterday?

    Meanwhile, cities the world over build truly impressive and state-of-the-art terminals complete with real trains that whisk passengers to/from the center city in 15-20 minutes via one-seat/one-fare rides at platforms steps away from baggage claim or not even a hop, skip and a jump from check-in desks/baggage drops for a fraction of the $8 billion cost for the new Port Authority Bus Terminal now being built at LaGuardia.

    And amazingly, because it’s better than the dilapidated “3rd World” airport we now have in NYC – since, of course, ANYTHING is better than that overcrowded, broken down, leaky mess of an airport terminal – people are willing to overlook the cheapAF, much darker, far less welcoming and (f)uglier than promised “new” LaGuardia now seen taking shape there.

    Everything about that LGA redevelopment project screams rip-off and fraudulent, right down to the complete lack of transportation planning during construction even though our Imperial Guv insists he’s such a visionary transportation expert, that he’s cramming a useless, unwanted, half-baked, last century, sure to be underutilized, white elephant, fake train on New Yorkers and tourists alike for generations to come.

    What a shame. 🙁

  7. As someone who calls in an expert when I need a bookcase assembled, I’ve spent the past two years marveling at the audacity of attempting to completely reconstruct an entire airport while maintaining full operations. Considering the magnitude of the job I think that in general they’ve they’ve done a pretty amazing job.

    LaGuardia is my local so I’m there not infrequently. There was one annoying day recently in which they’d changed the traffic patterns again (and Gary’s wrong that there’s nothing different from week-to-week — the traffic pattern is constantly changing) and the people they had stationed to direct you around the airport were not all on the same page and if you followed their directions you ended up ejected from the airport rather than returning to the arrivals area.

    Also, it’s not unheard of to walk in or out of LGA, for instance, to get to the car rentals across the street.

    Still, it sounds like they really melted down yesterday. I hope it’s the exception and that they get back to the regular more-or-less tolerable situation I’ve gotten used to.

  8. @Robbo Well said, and its a wonder that anybody in the United States trusts the government to manage anything. Wait until they are in charge of all of your medical care! New Yorkers enjoy the worst infrastructure in the world while paying some of the highest taxes anywhere — now easily pay well over 50% of their income as tax after Trump’s tax “reforms” which eliminated local tax deductions.

    The only thing you are wrong about is that New York has been begarred not only by the gross incompetence and corruption of its so-called “civil servants,” but by sending its tremendous wealth to the rest of the country so that places like Phoenix and Salt Lake City have decent airports, while New Yorkers have LGA, EWR, and JFK. Long past time for New York to breakaway and take care of itself. #NYExit

  9. LGA should make “consider other means of transportation” their new motto. It’s what we’ve all been thinking already.

  10. People in NY keep voting crooked idiots into office. Decade after decade. How can anyone be surprised when they make horrible decisions?

    No sympathy here, dopes.

  11. @Gary. While Metro in DC has its issues I think you poorly characterize it in a way that makes it seem third world (ish). I would argue that it’s the finest mass transit system in the country. It’s clean, safe, efficient, and used by millions of residents and visitors to reach a vast majority of the metro area. For the U.S. it is a model system. Since you are are a regular visitor to DC I assume you know that. And perhaps you would like to give a comparison to your offerings in Texas?

    What happened at DCA last year was a combined mess of one time Metro issues and large scale construction and improvements around the airport. Stuff happens. It was quickly over. To compare it to La Guardia and what is a never ending mess there you are hardly being fair.

    For us in DC to be able to walk a few blocks to Metro and be INSIDE the terminal (which is beautifully operated and easy to navigate) at National in under 20 minutes is something we are proud of. Tell me another airport in the U.S. that has such a fantastic close in access by train with additional options from the entire metro area? That puts you right in the terminal with no more than a 3 minute walk to security? And one that people actually use besides airport employees (ATL for example)?

  13. @ Stuart,
    Try the light rail system at MSP,. Clean, on time and to/from downtown Minneapolis in 20 minutes.
    Metro, meh.

  15. @Gary – I take the Metro to and from work every day and fly from DCA at least twice a week. I’ve lived here for 20 years and yes in 2015/2016 there were a lot of problems on a daily basis but in the last 2 years it’s gotten so much better – to the point that I dont even consider that i wont be on time to where I’m going. When there are issues they are clearly communicated, and when there are unexpected delays I get a trip credit to my smart card (that’s happened once in the past year.) As somebody who uses the Metro daily I completely do not agree with this characterization of the metro from somebody who lives in Austin. Also – when they closed the metro on the holiday weekend you mention, they did announce it far in advance, and it was part of long-disclosed renovation plans. Your characterization of “disrepair” is off base.

  16. People say all sorts of stuff about third-world countries but the fact remains DC and NYC *are* third-world countries

    Public transport in the USA is a shambles, and the roadways are largely crap as well

  17. @Robbo – why the excessive excessive excessive and mean-spirited post? My commute is on time daily, the trains are clean, and I never have issues. The stations are clean too. What on earth are you talking about? Why the mean-spirited personal attack?

  18. @robbo – don’t be pissed just because you made the idiotic decision to fly into LGA and “connected” out of JFK, lol

  19. LGA is not the first nor the last attempt to rebuild over existing operations. I am going to refrain from giving examples of more successful airports rebuilding and light rail in 20 minutes to downtown because it’s one of the places a commenter said the wealth was distributed to.

  20. I suffered thru a LG A arrival recently. Enough said.
    I will admit that I am not an expert on airport design although I have tasted many options of design in Europe over the last 3 decades. Sadly. the greatest issue at LGA is that they are landlocked (actually waterlocked) and they have only two runways with a max of one in use at any time. In my opinion, no amount of redesigning buildings can resolve the runway issue.
    There is the way off option of closing the nearby riker’s prison and creating an additional runway and connecting the island to the airport with taxiways. By the time all permits could be arranged we will likely transporting ourselves on individual jetpacks.
    I am not a supporter of Mayor DiBlasio but I do support him for President, just to get him away from NYC. I can not honestly blame him for the LGS fiasco as it is more a State issue, I believe.

  21. “Other than being a heavy travel day, there’s nothing particularly unusual or different about LaGuardia this week than last week.” – If you read the link included in your article you would see where it said it was the third busiest day in the entire history of the airport and maybe even was going to be the busiest day. Brought on by it being the vacation season, the fact that people like to travel on Thursday and more than 300 cancellations due to weather the night before.

  23. @Gary, you may have lived in the DC area for 18 years, but I’ve lived here for more than 60. I’ve lived in both Virginia and DC, and I’ve worked in Virginia, Maryland, and DC, using the Metro regularly since the 1970s. I find @Jason’s description of the conditions at DCA and on the Metro to be far more current and accurate than yours.

  24. @robbo, what’s with the unnecessary abuse towards @Jason. You had my sympathy as you recounted your trials and tribulations getting from LGA to JFK, but then you quickly changed topics and started bashing @Jason about issues here in Washington DC. I think you owe @Jason an apology. (And next time you need to be at JFK, don’t fly into LGA unless you are ready to pay the taxi fare, which is about the same as a taxi fare from DCA to IAD.)

  25. Now you know why businesses are relocating in droves to Texas and other business-progressive states. We do not put up with that kind of inefficiency at our airports.

  26. LGA is a shithole. Clean it up and get rid of all the RJ flying there and delays will decrease substantially.

  27. BOM terminal 2 was completely reconstructed while full operations were ongoing. 747always

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