East Haven mayor vows ‘street fight’ to stop Tweed Airport expansion

The board of directors for Tweed New Haven Airport Authority voted 9-4 to approve a new 43-year lease and development agreement with a private company that will provide $100 million for the extension of the airport”™s runway from 5,600 feet to 6,635 in order to attract more air carriers and the construction of a new four-to-six gate terminal on the property”™s East Haven side.

According to a report in the New Haven Independent, the agreement between the airport authority and The New HVN LLC, a subsidiary of the Goldman Sachs-owned airport management company Avports, came in the face of opposition from East Haven Mayor Joseph Carfora and many of his town”™s residents, who expressed concern that the project is being rushed and will contribute to environmental and quality of life disruptions. The four negative votes came from East Haven”™s representatives on the board of directors.

Carfora has suggested his town may file a lawsuit against the airport and claimed that “East Haven is not afraid of a street fight ”“ it never has been.” However, he offered no details on what the lawsuit or “street fight” would entail.

Airport Authority Executive Director Sean Scanlon acknowledged that the expansion plan will require some approvals from East Haven government boards and agencies before it can proceed.

“We”™re not exactly sure how comprehensive a list of approvals there need to be,” Scanlon said. “It”™s one of the reasons that we want to work collaboratively with East Haven. We do believe that there will have to be some approvals.”

Photo by Phil Hall