Improving the community’s relationship with airports

Khaleel Anderson was elected to the Assembly in a district that includes Kennedy Airport in November 2020, just a year after earning his bachelor’s degree at Queens College. A community organizer since he was 11 years old, Anderson also served on Queens Community Board 14 and his district’s police precinct council, before serving in public office. As a state lawmaker, Anderson has prioritized mitigating noise and air pollution for his constituents while ensuring they have access to economic opportunities available through airport redevelopment projects. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What’s your background dealing with the airports in Queens?

I have an appointment to the New York Community Advisory Roundtable. In my role in the Assembly, I’ve been working on the new JFK Community Advisory Council as a co-chair of one of the committees there. Before the Assembly, I was working with partners in 32BJ SEIU’s fair wage for workers campaign.

My politics are that we have to fight for the working class. We know by the end of the development and construction of the airports, billionaires will get richer. There has to be a redistribution of that wealth. The JFK Airport, by the time it’s finished, is going to be a $22 billion to $25 billion project from the initial $16 billion announced a few years ago. My goal is to make sure our folks don’t just get jobs, but that they own something, and that JFK becomes a better neighbor to the people that live around the airport. Right now, JFK has not been a good neighbor, whether it’s been airplane flyovers or issues regarding accessibility to the airport.

What impact are the LaGuardia and JFK airport overhauls having on the local and city economies, including in your district in Southeast Queens? 

If you look at each individual project, you’ll not see many Black and brown and local individuals from impacted communities, from the priority ZIP codes, that are getting employed and also starting to own businesses in the sites. So that’s the challenge we’re faced with. The new JFK has rolled out this initiative or that initiative, but there isn’t a community benefits agreement or direct investment to the neighbors who live directly around the airport.

Who’s benefiting and is there a long-term creation of new jobs here, or mostly temporary?

Not enough people. It’s not about temporary construction jobs, it’s about jobs start to finish. This is a 20- to 30-year project. That’s not temporary. That’s a generation. Whether it’s construction or concessions, you’re going to need workers. My frustration to date is that I can’t say locals are getting the percentages that I’d like to see. And not just someone who punches in 9-to-5. I’m talking about contracts. 

Every developer is not following those statutes. One in particular is American Airlines. Terminal 8 is one of the worst offenders for MWBE, local businesses and getting contracts to carry out the work necessary to build out these airports. I’m talking about a masonry contract that goes out to a white-owned company. They’ve been the worst offenders. There are other projects happening simultaneously. I want to make sure that Black and brown folks and local folks are getting contracts. People whose businesses suffered during COVID-19 and whose businesses will suffer afterward.

The Port Authority should stop misrepresenting that there will be more airplanes flying over people’s homes and how we can divert that air traffic. It’s not just noise pollution, it’s impacting people’s air quality and quality of life. It needs to be done and I want it to be done right.

The Port Authority operates with a top-down structure that often leaves many people unheard. Contractors who want to get bids are outbid by white construction firms. I’m 27 now. Hopefully by the time I’m 40, settling down and buying a home, JFK can be a better neighbor economically and socially.

Is there any state-level legislation pending or any hearings coming up on this topic?

When we have hearings, it would be nice for the Port Authority to show up to them. They feel emboldened not to show up to our hearings. It makes it that much more difficult. Case and point, last year: City Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers had a hearing but nobody showed up. Sen. (Leroy) Comrie was organizing one but they refused to show up. They had a hearing about the subject matter writ large, but if they refuse to show up because they feel like they don’t have to respond to you, (it makes) you wonder if they are hiding something. Where’s the data? It used to be readily available on their website about MWBE hiring and goals. It used to be there. When the data looked bad, they pulled it.

Does more still need to be done to boost runway capacity at the New York City area airports, so as to further reduce flight delays?

We would have that information if the Port Authority would report it. Maybe I’m right, but if the organization was transparent we would be able to have that information to say “yes” or “no.” I can’t imagine you would spend $22 billion to redo your living room and not have a new couch, a new TV and keep everything the same. Come on.

That process would have to go through the FAA. They have enough land to do that there. This is a quasi-governmental entity that doesn’t feel that it has to respond to the Legislature. And this is not an indictment of the well-meaning individuals who go in there and work hard, day in and day out, but it is an indictment of the bureaucracy that does not speak to the immediate needs of the people impacted by (Kennedy Airport). I want this airport to be a 23rd century airport, the most beautiful airport that it can be. But I need to ensure my neighbors feel just as good about this airport as I feel about it.

Is shoreline resiliency a concern at all for LaGuardia and JFK? If there were another Superstorm Sandy, would the airports be safe and secure?

There’s always that concern because it exists for the neighbors. I’m fighting for my neighbors, and they’re concerned about flooding. Any new development or redevelopment about construction that happens has to resolve that issue. This is a good question for the Port Authority or planners. My principle is to make sure we take care of those things. The airport is in a low-lying area. It flooded during Sandy, Irene and other storms. We are concerned about it.

I have some legislation that works to do environmental justice work like retrofitting and greening, as we work to be in compliance with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, but we need partners who are developing the airport to be intentional about the longevity of the project. Climate change and resiliency have to be built into that.

I have a bill with Comrie that will give zero-interest loans and grants for small homes that could be impacted by flooding and storm protection. Resources to retrofit and green their homes and make them more storm resilient. I have a lot of homes that surround the airport. Neighbors that live feet away from the airport. If you travel a lot, you would think living near the airport is a plus. My office is six minutes away. I fly JetBlue. You would think that would be a positive. But large, taller fences do not make better neighbors. I can’t see what you’re doing on the other side of the fence and not be impacted.

What’s the latest on developing an alternative bus option instead of the scuttled LaGuardia AirTrain? 

Here’s the plan. I wrote a letter to the MTA in 2022. I said the Rockaways are the only ZIP codes (11691, 11692 and 11693) in my Assembly district that can’t get a one-seat ride to the airport in the Queens bus redesign. I need you guys to ensure that there’s a bus directly from the Rockaways to the airport. That helps security workers, airport workers, flight attendants and stewardesses get to and from the airport to make their shifts, be able to work and have a direct connection. Don’t let the MTA bs you about the AirTrain. The AirTrain is not affordable to our folks for $8 or $16 round trip. It’s not affordable to a security officer making $34,000 a year.

I’d like to see a Q22 express bus from Far Rockaway up to the airport.

It’s not just about Rockaway, it’s about parts of the district that go directly to the airport. There’s the Q10 and the Q3. Every other part of my district is connected to the airport, except the Rockaways. That’s a disparity.

Would you like to see any other changes to the AirTrain?

Not at this time but it would be good to see something connect both airports. There should be something that connects both airports. If I got my way, we’d have at least a two-seat ride to the airport. We have the Q52 bus, which connects from Arverne in the Rockaways up to Roosevelt and then gets on the Q33 bus. Right now, it’s a three-fare zone. If I’m at JFK and I want to get from JFK Airport to LaGuardia, it’s three buses.

How well are the airports doing in terms of minimizing noise for local residents?

When they’re landing over Arverne, that’s eight planes per hour. It shakes your house. It’s loud. It’s noise pollution, and also the fuselage impacts your air. You can see not only the company of the airplane, and the FedEx cargo planes, you can see the fuselage, dropping through the air and it impacts quality of life. 

The New York Airport Aviation Commuting Roundtable has been studying this issue intently. My neighbors have been saying this is noisy, but people ignore the noise like it’s a car alarm. But this noise comes with negative health impacts and that’s the challenge. We have low birth rates in Springfield Gardens and Rosedale. Who knows if there’s a connector there. With that level of pollution coming down on you, there has to be a connector. All I’m saying is that this inordinate amount of pollution will impact you at some level.