The federal Department of Transportation has been looking to reduce congestion at airports, especially the NYC-area ones, but the Port Authority says auctioning departure and arrival slots would "have a severe negative impact” and “would be illegal without Congressional authorization.” The Port Authority said today it will deny any flights at JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark that are result of government auction. Hmm, that sounds like a good way to reduce congestion!......

Photograph of American Airlines ticket holders at Laguardia Airport yesterday by Frances Roberts/AP American Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights today, causing more chaos for its would-be passengers. NY1 reported lines looked less messy today, suggesting people called ahead. But yesterday, it was a terrible mess. From NY1:"It's a little irritating that they are offering coffee to everybody, in exchange I'm missing a whole day of meetings in Texas," said one traveler. "I don't......

After talk of flight caps to help ease airport congestion that leave many travelers very irritable, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced another policy to help ease airport woes. The DOT will let airports charge airlines based on the time of day and volume of traffic their planes are landing in. Previously, aircraft was only charged based on plane weight. The hope, per the USDOT, is that "airports would be able to spread traffic more......

Why wasn't this monkey in the care of a zoo or someone who was qualified to care for monkeys? The Feds are nothing but a bunch of incompetent buffoons...

Realizing that air traffic congestion is terrible and will be even worse next week during Thanksgiving holiday, President Bush announced that the FAA is working on new ideas, plus military airspace will be opened up for five days to civilian planes. If using military airspace (the "Thanksgiving Express Lane") works well this time around, it may reopened for the Christmas holidays. The other measures the President announced were: FAA will focus on preventing delays......

Note to all mixologists: Tomato juice does not go well with X-ray machines. Especially when the X-ray machines are part of the screening process at LaGuardia Airport, where thousands of passengers are waiting to be checked out. WCBS 2 found out that security screening at LaGuardia was a lot slower than usual (and it can be really slow already!) because someone spilled tomato juice on an X-ray machine yesterday: "The Transportation Safety Administration confirmed......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an aircraft emergency at Laguardia Airport in Queens, a carjacking on 7th Ave. and 115th St. in Manhattan, and a pedestrian fatally struck on Nostrand Ave. in Brooklyn. The director of the Public Theater's production of A Midsummers Night's Dream suffered four broken ribs and a collapsed lung after falling through a trap door at Central Park's Delacorte Theater during a rehearsal this week. Do not adjust the controls......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a large tree down at Hope and Havermeyer Sts. in Brooklyn, a plane fire at Laguardia Airport in Queens, and a disorderly passenger on a plane at JFK Airport in Queens. Regular L Train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan is suspended on the weekends for the rest of the month. Shuttle buses are the next hip thing. The Feast of Giglio is an amazing sight, with a five ton,......

Could travelers out of LaGuardia Airport soon see some new airlines or increased service from smaller airlines? If the Bush Administration has its way, there may be some changes ahead for the airport in northern Queens. A law passed by Congress in 2000 attempted to change how landing (and departure) slots were allocated to airlines in airports around the country. Taking advantage of the rules passed in 2000, airlines added an additional 300 flights......

New Yorkers couldn't walk a step without having a leaf, plastic bag or other sundry bit of city detritus hurtle towards them yesterday! It really was insanely windy. Central Park had measured winds of 46 MPH, and the winds were 48 MPH at LaGuardia Airport, causing delays there as well as JFK Airport. Almost two thousand residents in the Bronx and Westchester were without power, and the winds fanned flames of a Bronx blaze. The......

On this relatively quiet Labor Day weekend, Senator Charles Schumer spoke out about problems at LaGuardia Airport. Basically, the tower is structurally damaged to the point where the Post ran this photo of tarps hanging to protect the equipment from leaks. And that's not all. From the Post:- Its ground-radar system - which prevents runway collisions - fails during downpours. - Structural cracks line the stairwell leading up to the tower cab. - The US......

The FAA has big (jet) plans for La Guardia Airport. Last year about 25.9 million people flew into La Guardia from all over. But the FAA thinks that it can handle at least 28.5 million a year. How exactly to get those extra millions into and out of the airport, without causing massive delays, is what is at issue. There are two basic ways being discussed. First, the FAA could lift its cap on......

As if the insane heat and humidity isn't enough, there are signal problems at Times Square that are affecting the 1, 2 and 3 lines. The 1 has been suspended between 137th Street and South Ferry and the 2 is running on the 5 line between 149th Street/Grand Concourse in The Bronx and Nevins Street in Brooklyn. The 3 is in even worse shape as it's not running at all. Gothamist is getting reports that......

Our absolute favorite Brooklyn blogger Callalillie took a trip outside her home borough to the Queens Museum-- home of the amazing, stupendous model of New York City. Some info about the model: The Panorama of the City of New York was the creation of Robert Moses and Raymond Lester. It was originally presented in the New York City Pavilion as part of the 1964/65 New York World's Fair. At the time of its creation,......

Last May, when Enrique Soriano's body was found beneath a 6 train at the Whitlock Avenue station in the Bronx, the police ruled it an accident or even a suicide. Now the ME's office says Soriano was assaulted and possibly pushed. Even though Soriano had been taking antidepressants, his family never believed he committed suicide because the gold chain and crucifix he wore were missing from his body. Wife Rosa Soriano told the NY Times......

The injuries and the bad luck for the Mets keep piling up. Tom Glavine was involved in an accident on his way to Shea Stadium. Glavine was on his way to Shea after spending his day off in Atlanta, but was somehow injured in the 3.18 mile trip to Shea from LaGuardia Airport. The cab he was in hit an SUV and just like that, Glavine was missing a couple of teeth and needing stitches......

Todd Barry, Comedian...

We like records. True, we like the kind they call LP's that are the format of choice for old jazz recordings, and good white label grooves, but we also like records of the "unsurpassed measurement" type (thank you dictionary.com). The most recent local records of note that were broken according to our local NOAA office in Upton, NY Central Park: May 15, 2004 - A record rainfall of 1.16 inches was recorded breaking the old......

You are camped out at the airport� waiting �hungry� tired. It is indeed nasty outside so the airline must be waiting for this patch of bad weather to clear. Or that�s what we are led to believe as we struggle to stay away from the Cinnabon stand. According to the latest study from The Department of Transportation (and a very informative Wall Street Journal article) only 3% of all airport delays are due to......

By popular demand, snowfall amounts over Friday and Saturday, from the New York Times: 16 inches in Riverdale in the Bronx 12 inches at La Guardia Airport 12 inches at Kennedy Airport 13 inches in Central Park (which the Times notes is used as a "microcosm" of the city for weather records...no word on the influence of body heat generation by SummerStage) Other areas: 18 inches in central Long Island 20 inches in Thornwood,......

Not as nice as anything rion takes, but on my way to the airport yesterday morning, I managed to get this picture from the car. And then later that day, I took this picture of the lights from the plane. The plane's landing was pretty choppy, but I think it looks cool. In sort of related news, workers at LaGuardia Airport were charged with stealing more than a million in mini-liquor bottles and selling......