County calls for Port Authority's acquisition of Stewart Airport
Goshen Orange County Executive Edward A. Diana wants the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to buy Stewart International Airport. The Port Authority is currently in discussions regarding the potential acquisition of Stewart, Diana said. “There is no other organization that can match the Port Authority’s experience in successfully operating a major airport,” he said. “The future success of Stewart Airport is too important to take a chance with an unproven entity. I wholeheartedly am encouraging the Port Authority to take a serious hard look at bringing Stewart Airport under their umbrella. “Tremendous progress has been made that has laid the foundation for Stewart to truly take off as a major player in commercial aviation,” Diana said in a statement issued Tuesday. “The Drury Lane Interchange project is well underway and will soon be completed providing direct access from 1-84 and the New York State Thruway. Within the past month, Jet Blue and Air Tran have both announced that they are servicing Stewart, offering direct flights to many destinations. Plans are in the works for a direct rail link from Stewart to the New York Metropolitan area. It is also important to note that Stewart is the home to a U.S. Foreign Trade Zone Substation and a brand new Federal Inspection Station and U.S. Customs Center located at the airport site.” The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey runs most of the transportation infrastructure, including bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, in the New York-New Jersey Port District. It operates the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal and several Hudson River crossings, including the Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, and George Washington Bridge, and a number of crossings that connect with Staten Island. The Port Authority Bus Terminal and the PATH rail system are also run by the Port Authority, as are LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Liberty International airports. The World Trade Center was also a Port Authority project.