By: David Winzelberg
The 12,000-square-foot facility centralizes all ground transportation to serve visitors and travelers, with rental cars, taxis, buses, auto transport, ride-hailing services, hotel courtesy shuttles and Suffolk Bus available in one place.
The $8.4 million project was mostly funded by airport-customer facility charges and bonds that are payable solely from airport revenues. Additional funding came from an $800,000 New York State Aviation Grant and a $650,000 capital grant from Empire State Development, through the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council, that was awarded to the Town of Islip to support the renovation and modernization of the ground transportation facility.
“This new construction and infrastructure upgrade will benefit travelers at Long Island MacArthur Airport, making it even easier to use our airport both for visitors to Long Island and for our loyal local customers,” Town of Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter said in a written statement. “We are consistently improving the customer experience at MacArthur Airport to modernize and make travel easier and more comfortable. We are so grateful to all who helped us secure funding for this project, and at no expense to local taxpayers.”
Airport Commissioner Shelley LaRose-Arken said technology is shifting and improving the way we travel through airports, and so further enhancing customer convenience is important to us.
“Centralizing transportation services is an asset for both visitors to Long Island and residents who choose mass transportation options, instead of driving now, and in the future,” LaRose-Arken said in the statement. “The efficient location and layout of the new GTC enables customers who already have a boarding pass to save time by entering the TSA checkpoint within minutes.”
Joe Campolo, HIA-LI past board chairperson and managing partner at Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP, said MacArthur Airport is a major economic generator that helps create good paying jobs for the entire region.
“Businesses are more likely to locate on Long Island because of this airport,” Campolo said in the statement. “There is so much potential here for Long Island and we expect to see positive growth materialize in many ways here in the months and years ahead.”
