Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Biden says N.Y. airport like a ‘Third World country’

LaGuardia Airport

Frank Eltman / Associated Press

In this Jan. 10, 2014, photo, passengers maneuver through one of the cramped hallways at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the state is taking control of an ambitious $3.6 billion construction project at LaGuardia that calls for an entirely new Central Terminal Building.

Click to enlarge photo

Vice President Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013, before the ceremonial swearing-in ceremony for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) Director Todd Jones.

PHILADELPHIA — Vice President Joe Biden says New York's LaGuardia Airport could use some major improvements — and that's putting it mildly.

Biden says if he blindfolded someone and took him to LaGuardia he'd think he was in "some Third World country."

Biden made the comment as part of a comparison with the Hong Kong airport. He says Hong Kong has the type of modern facility travelers would expect to see in the United States.

His remarks came during an event Thursday in Philadelphia in which he stressed the need for infrastructure improvement.

Biden focused on Amtrak, which just unveiled a new electric locomotive. But he says the nation's ports and airports also need upgrading.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operates LaGuardia. It says it's investing $3.6 billion to help "provide passengers with a world-class terminal."

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