What major New York City mainstay opened 69 years ago today?
Hint 1: It went by another name until 1947. Hint 2: It was one of the largest public works projects during the Depression. Hint 3: It was the first of its kind to be financed and built largely by the U.S. government with our mayor overlooking almost "every bit of sand that was put in" (mayor's wife, The Power Broker).
LAGUARDIA AIRPORT
(fomerly known as Glenn H. Curtiss Airport, North Beach Airport, New York Municipal Airport and LaGuardia Field)
7 Bytes of Trivia
--The airport traces its roots back to 1934 when Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia refused to disembark a plane in Newark, complaining that his ticket read "New York" and not "New Jersey." The plane flew him to Floyd Bennet field in Brooklyn and the grumpy passenger vowed he would bring a great airport to this great city.
--The location in Queens was partially chosen because of its proximity to the Triborough Bridge (opened in 1936) and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel (ground was broken in 1936). Work on the airport kicked off the following year.
--American Airlines was the original airline supporting the mayor's dream, but by the time LGA opened, the other big four (Pan Am, TWA, United and Eastern) had reserved their place in the new airport.
--Construction of the airport involved landfill from the nearby Riker's Island (a garbage dump at the time) as well as the usual excavations for the subway. The runways began sinking almost immediately and had to be reinforced. (The pilots of the Pan Am Clippers did not have to worry about this problem since they landed in the water and taxied to the Marine Air Terminal.)
--Nicknames included "Fiorello's Folly" during construction and "LaChargia" after opening because of its expensive landing fees and high rents for concessionaires.
--The LaGuardia Admirals Club was the first airline lounge in the world.
--My favorite description of the airport is by Jonathan Franzen in The Corrections where Chip assumes "...the burden of seeing LaGuardia Airport and New York City and his life and clothes and body through the disappointed eyes of his parents. He noticed, as if for the first time, the dirty linoleum, the assassin-like chauffers holding up signs with other people's names on them, the snarl of wires dangling from a hole in the ceiling. He distinctly heard the word 'motherfucker.' Outside the big windows on the baggage level, two Bangladeshi men were pushing a disabled cab through rain and angry honking....There was a confusion of tread patterns on the linoleum, gray with the pollutants that the rain had brought down. The light was the color of car sickness. 'New York City!' Alfred said."
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