The South Shore Press did a deep dive on what a dump LaGuardia Airport used to be. It did not take long for us to use the Google Machine to find a story from USA Today.
No punches were pulled in the July 24th, 2013 story titled “World's worst airports: Dumps, disgraces and big bugs.”
In that story, Saint Louis traveler John Barth dubiously described LGA as "a dump and an utter disgrace. It's filthy, crowded and there's no room for what must be a massive business clientele."
Back then Jason Rabinowitz was editor of NYCAviation.com. He shared his sentiments that LaGuardia literally made people unhappy just by being there.
"Before you even get to LGA, you are in a bad mood because it's not connected to any meaningful public transportation, just a very slow city bus. Once inside, check-in areas are tiny, security lines overflowing, and your cellphone will most likely stop working because it has no signal. And Wi-Fi isn't free," Rabinowitz was quoted telling USA Today in July 2013.
One year later it was so bad that then Vice President Joseph Biden described going to LaGuardia Airport this way: “I must be in some third-world country,” said Biden during a speech in Philadelphia in February 2014.
How things have changed in one decade.
Laughingstock LaGuardia is now ranked as the best mid-sized airport in North America according to a survey just released by “Airport Service Quality.”
ASQ ranked LaGuardia and the Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport as the best in America for airports serving 25 to 40 million passengers per year.
The Port Authority recently announced that a record high 32 million passengers used LGA in 2023.
How did LaGuardia go from “worst to first?”
For starters, a massive makeover began at LGA in 2016. The six year makeover, an $8 billion investment, spearheaded by then New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, included a massive reconstruction and renovation of gates, terminals, and concourses. The old C and D terminals were combined into one.
Cuomo sent media outlets, including the South Shore Press, a statement praising the naming of LGA as one of the best airports in North America.
“The recognition is a testament to the men and women in my administration who worked night and day to transform this airport from one of the worst in the nation to the very best. They made the impossible possible and this honor is well deserved,” stated Cuomo.