Stewart International Airport”™s incoming owners accomplished something James Wright hasn”™t seen much of during his 20-odd-year tenure as chairman of the Stewart Airport Commission: a meeting with a standing-room-only audience. Â “We may need a bigger room,” joked Wright.
Wright may be right on the money.
There may also be a need for some community relations consultants to come in and quell what may seem an insignificant matter to incoming owners of Stewart International Airport: the nameless road now being called the “east-west connector road.”
Wright politely reminded Port Authority of New York and New Jersey management ”“ which takes over the airport Nov. 1 ”“ that surrounding communities had made a resolution several years ago to name the east-west connector “Archie Stewart Boulevard” in honor of the man who donated the land for the airport.
“International Boulevard,” is the name the Port Authority says was approved by the towns of New Windsor, Newburgh and Montgomery. It is the new name being touted.
For those who do not remember, National Express Group”™s attempt to change the name of the airport from Stewart to New York Hudson Valley International Airport raised such a ruckus two years ago  that new-name plans were indefinitely (and, says the Port Authority, permanently) postponed.
The name of the east-west connector road may become a bone of contention, even as the Port Authority spends millions in upgrades to security, new parking and anxiously awaits the completion of Drury Lane, bringing traffic directly off the New York State Thruway into Stewart, with promises from the state Department of Transportation it will be up and running by year”™s end.
“Anthony Shorris got his biggest applause at the Orange County Chamber and Partnership luncheon when he announced there would be no name change at Stewart,” said Wright. He appealed to the Port Authority management to reconsider its desire to name the new road “International Boulevard.”
Stewart passenger numbers have tripled in a year ”“ from 300,000 to 900,000 between 2006 and 2007 ”“ and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer recently secured a grant to increase the number of security personnel at the airport. The state Department of Transportation and Thruway Authority continue working to ensure the new interchange at Interstates 84 and 87 is completed by 2009. With all that activity, a simple name change may stir up a hornet”™s nest the Port Authority may not be anticipating.
In the audience was Stewart”™s daughter, Mary, along with her husband, Fred Hafer. Dressed in their Tartan plaids, the Stewarts are hoping that the airport keeps the Stewart moniker and that the road named after Archie Stewart remains so. Mary”™s son, Tom, still maintains the original Web site created when the brouhaha erupted over the proposed airport name change: www.rememberarchiestewart.com.
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Sandra Kissam of the Stewart Park and Reserve Coalition (SPARC), whose group successfully tied up the building of Drury Lane for years, is “looking forward to a sense of cooperation between the communities around Stewart and hope there will be an interaction and exchange I feel was not present previously,” a not-so-subtle jab at National Express Group. “I want to emphasize that Stewart can be a positive for the area and sincerely hope that will happen.”
Jonathan Drapkin, whose eight-county Pattern for Progress think tank has been monitoring Stewart activities for more than 36 years, praised the Port Authority”™s interaction and willingness to work with the community. Port Authority Executive Director Anthony Shorris will be keynote speaker at Pattern”™s annual dinner Thursday, Nov. 1, takeover day at the airport.
The Sept. 25 meeting was the last one that National Express Group will participate in. Wright thanked Charles Seliga, the former airport general manager, noting, “A month before NEG took over the airport, they desperately tried to get out of it. Chuck has done a wonderful job under some difficult circumstances.”
The Port Authority pledged to have the proposed Stewart Advisory Committee formed by year”™s end, but gave no details as to how it would select members; nor is it known if those meetings will be open to the public. Wright said he hoped the meetings would be open to both the public and press.
Kissam reminded the advisory committee SPARC had a copy of National Express Group”™s original lease with the state.
Don Hannon, director of the state Department of Tranportation”™s Region 8 office in Albany, said the language of the original lease is in the process of being changed. “National Express was a private company; the Port Authority is a public agency, so the wording will be changed to reflect that,” he said. The final draft of the new agreement should be ready by Oct. 10 for the state attorney general”™s office approval, said Hannon, Â and presented to the committee when it meets again in mid-October.
And the road name change from Archie Stewart to International Boulevard? That question remained unanswered.
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