PA director accentuates the positives New jobs with higher wages expected at Stewart Airport BY KATHY KAHN

PA director accentuates the positives
New jobs with higher wages expected at Stewart Airport
BY KATHY KAHN

There’s one thing Hudson Valley residents can be sure of: Stewart Airport will remain Stewart Airport, “and that’s final,” Anthony Shorris told a packed house at Ulster Community College March 20. Then came the questions and concerns about what the new owners will bring to Stewart. The Port Authority’s (PA) executive director came to accentuate the positives and acknowledge the negatives of its latest acquisition to participants at the Hudson Valley Economic Summit.

An influx of new jobs -- carrying much higher wages than the region’s median currently provides -- will be just one of the positive impacts the Port Authority’s takeover will have on the economy, says Shorris. Like LaGuardia, Kennedy, Newark and Teterboro, business will spring up around Stewart, providing economic stimuli that will reverberate around the region, not just the airport’s host county.

What will also be reverberating, Shorris admits, will be concerns about noise, air pollution and quality-of-life issues. Saying the PA is an “authority separate from general government -- we are not beholden politicallybecause we are a nontaxing agency. … We can and do make decisions on analysis rather than political necessity. The mission of the Port Authority is to move goods and people.” If there are concerns, Shorris says public advocacy must continue and he encouraged the community to be vocal. “In my job, we have to listen to the drumbeating.”

A few quickly stepped up to the microphone to take Shorris up on his offer. Ulster County Legislator Susan Zimet wanted to know if the PA intends on following the current airport master plan created by National Express Group -- one that calls for demolition of a building on Stewart’s grounds housing a Cold War boardroom. It’s a “Dr. Strangelove” scenario frozen in time, one Zimet and her group are trying to save for a Cold War Museum. The Hudson Valley Materials Exchange, which will be evicted from the airport to make way for a new parking lot, wanted to know if the PA will be responsible neighbors. Jill Gruber, the exchange director, asked if the PA would reuse and recycle and build “sustainable green buildings” rather than what she claims is now going on at the airport. “Lots of waste and lots of building materials are just thrown away. … I hope the Port Authority is going to be more environmentally sensitive.”

Shorris said the PA is going to respond but cautioned the technology to make that possible costs money. That’s why it is banking on Stewart to provide the income to make it happen.

Innovation is under way at the other airports under the PA’s jurisdiction. New technology, such as the Airbus 380 with a seating capacity of 800, will help bring airport noise levels down to nearly 75 percent at landing and 50 percent at takeoff. The use of low-emission buses, already up and running at Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, cut down on pollution and $4 million went into soundproofing schools near the Queens’ airports to reduce learning distractions. But none of these innovations come cheaply, “Stewart has not been successful under state or private leadership,” says Shorris. “We have an incentive to see it do well -- it is a source of revenue for us, too.

“And we do stay connected to the community” he continued, pointing to kudos the agency has received from the Queens Chamber of Commerce, home to LaGuardia and Kennedy airports. He expects the PA will have the same level of involvement in the Hudson Valley once the acquisition is complete. “We are not there yet,” stressed Shorris, saying the New Jersey Legislature has approved the takeover but approvals are still needed from New York and federal agencies before they take over. Shorris predicted the Port Authority will be in control by October.

“Stewart is uniquely situated to be an asset to the PA and become a quality regional airport and one where we intend to build with sustainability and sensitivity in mind,” stressed Shorris.

Stewart’s 2,400 acres, access to two major highways and storage facilities in nearby Montgomery made it the PA’s airport of choice, one it intends to build slowly but steadily to accommodate the nearly 11 million passengers in its catchment area, taking the load off the metro area. The PA’s stewardship will make it more attractive to airlines, which have built a solid relationship with the agency. That means more flights to more places and more jobs for the Hudson Valley.

But Stewart, predicts Shorris, will “never reach the level of a fourth airport. … People and cargo are still going to move through the three metropolitan airports. Even if we do not make another improvement at Stewart -- as it is right now, we could move between 300,000 to 500,000 passengers a year through the terminal.” When the PA first announced its intention to buy the remainder of the 99-year lease on the airport, officials predicted Stewart would be handling between 3 million to 5 million passengers a year within the next five years.

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