Whenever I am at a major airport in the NYC tri-state area for a curbside pick-up – whether it’s JFK, LaGuardia or Newark – I feel like a mouse being chased by a cat.
Kennedy Airport
JFK is undergoing a $19 billion renovation. This is great news because it will one day be a brand-new airport. The bad news is that this major construction project makes navigating this airport very difficult, and it is taking a very long time.
Terminals 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8 are open and functioning. There are currently no Terminals 2, 3 or 6, but there may be after the construction is complete… likely after my children’s children get their driver’s licenses!
The parking lot for Terminal 1 is closed for renovation, so you have to park at Terminal 8 and take the Air Train to Terminal 1. What a pain!
The most challenging thing about curbside pick-ups is that traffic safety officers (not police) are constantly moving for-hire vehicle (FHV) drivers along, so traffic moves smoothly. Port Authority Police (PAP) are the cats and FHV drivers are the mice.
I often look for safe parking spots near the terminals, but if I hang out there too long, you can bet a PAP will pull up behind me and flash me with his lights and horn me with his annoying siren.
The best way I have found to make a curbside pick-up at JFK is to park at the JFK Travel Plaza, text the passenger, and then wait for a response. After the passenger tells me they have their bags, I explain to them that I need 5 to 10 minutes to get to them for their curbside pick-up. This has often worked very well.
For more information about the $19 billion renovation at Kennedy Airport, visit www.anewjfk.com.
LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia airport recently won an award for being the best airport in the United States, after an $8 billion construction project that took five years to complete. Curbside pick-ups at LaGuardia Airport are also extremely challenging.
For more information, visit www.anewlga.com.
I have found that it is most effective for me to park at either the Buccaneer Diner, which is less than a mile away from LaGuardia airport, or the Jackson Hole Diner, which also is about a mile away from the airport.
I text the passenger, explain that I’m just outside the airport, and after they get their bags, I ask them to let me know so I can drive over and pick them up. Again, I tell them that it might take 5 to 10 minutes to manage their expectations.
What is so confusing at LaGuardia Airport is the arrivals level. There are signs everywhere that read $130 fine plus points for parking. Yet I see long lines of cars that are constantly parked there for curbside pick-ups and no police officers (cats) in sight!
For Terminal B passengers, I park at the parking garage level two where FHVs are allowed to park legally. This works well for me. The police don’t bother me there.
An important point here is to not leave your vehicle. There was a chauffeur who parked at terminal B parking garage level two and left his vehicle, only to find that it was towed literally minutes later.
Newark Airport
I was recently doing a pick-up at Newark airport. I had contacted my passenger to tell her I was going to pick her up at terminal C. She replied that she had her bags so I would pick her up at the Departure Level, Door 2.
As soon as I arrived, a Port Authority police officer told me to move along. Since the passenger was coming out in five minutes or less, I tried to stall so I could be there for my passenger. The police officer came back as the passenger was getting in my vehicle said to me: “I was just about to give you a ticket.” I thanked the officer for not giving me a ticket.
Similar to LaGuardia and JFK, it is important to find a safe and legal place to park while waiting for your passengers to deplane and walk outside.
I have found that the travel plaza at Newark airport, which is currently under construction, is a safe place to park. It only takes 5 to 10 minutes to get to the terminal to pick up a passenger. Also, there is a cell phone lot across Route 9.
There’s another cell phone lot inside the airport, but FHVs and limousines are not allowed to park there. The police have ticketed vehicles who park there.
The moral of the street story is: “Do not play cat and mouse with the police.” Find a safe and legal place to park, not far from the airport. After you make contact with your passenger, then you can proceed to pick them up curbside. It is not worth risking a ticket of $130, plus points on your license.
