By Matt Chaban 4/24 11:48am

Planes Trains & Automobiles

Art, not commerce. (Alice Aycock)

Another Piece of JFK Ephemera Is Threatened, But the Artist Behind It Fights Back

Readers know The Observer is quite fond of Jet Age JFK, broken down as it is. The old terminals are almost gone now, as Delta broke ground on its expansion of Terminal 4 two weeks ago, meaning Terminal 3 will surely be torn down. But even newer pieces of the airport are not secure. The Times reports that the operators of Terminal 1 want to demolish and artwork there—to make room for more concessions. But Alice Aycock, the creator of the Star Sifter, is angrier than a TSA screener about it all. Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 3/28 9:50am

Star Power

Sean and Oliver on the set of "Heaven and Earth" (photo courtesy of Sean Stone)

The Son Also Kneels: Hanging with Oliver Stone’s Kid Sean, Newly Minted Muslim

Oliver Stone was deplaning at LAX following a 16-hour trip from Indonesia when he turned on his phone and found it blowing up with texts from his office. Apparently the media—what he called the “paparazzi”—had been in touch. They wanted to ask him about his son, Sean.

In particular, they wanted to know what he thought of Sean’s decision to become a Muslim. Oliver instructed his office to decline comment. Read More

By Matt Chaban 11:42am

Planes Trains & Automobiles

14 Photos

QueensWay

What to Do With a Derelict Queens Trestle: Advocates Square Off on High Line v. Rail Line

The High Line has been such a staggering success, it has created impersonators across the country and the world. And who can blame them, when the project has generated an estimated $2 billion in economic activity on a public investment of only $150 million.

But what if instead of building a park, a subway or light rail line ran along the Far West Side?

It is not a ludicrous idea. Light rail has proven a boon in downtown Portland and elsewhere, and with the extension of the 7 train to Hudson Yards, the line could well have hooked up with the High Line and made a whole swath of under-developed Manhattan real estate more accessible.

A glittery park has achieved just as much, but this exact same debate is taking place in Queens, Read More

By Adrianne Jeffries 11/07/11 9:24am

Sad Endings

(Facebook)

In Which It Is Affirmed That JFK Is No Place for a Cat

We thought we’d closed the book on Jack the Cat when the feline, lost during a mishap in American Airlines baggage handling, was found after two months and rushed to a vet. The story seemed set for a Disney ending. But sadly, malnutrition and dehydration wore Jack down, and he has died despite intensive care. “Jack has gone over the rainbow bridge,” writes the administrator of the Facebook group that publicized news about the lost cat. Read More

By Matt Chaban 10/10/11 9:32am

Making History

Welcome aboard, ladies and gentlemen.

Take Off for the TWA Terminal This Weekend at Open House New York

A great deal of attention has been paid lately to vintage JFK. Thanks to that lovely show Pan Am, we got a glimpse of what Terminal 3 looked like in its glory days, rather than the leaking mess it had become in recent years. It was recently torn down so Delta, which is expanding Terminal 4, could have more space to park planes—no, not a new terminal, just a bare strip of tarmac, a glorified plane parking lot. (Maybe with the airport so congested, that’s for the best. Another terminal would mean more planes everyday, wouldn’t it?)

Then there is the still stately Terminal 6, JetBlue’s home before it took over the new Terminal 5 encircling Eero Saarinen’s revered TWA Terminal. Terminal 6 is also coming down, a soaring glass pane and concrete strut at a time. There has been much handwringing over this of late, thanks in no small part to the appearance of Christina Ricci in a blue stewardess’ garb, but as is often the case with old buildings, it is too little, too late. And we don’t even yet know what is replacing the thing.

That leaves us with the TWA Terminal and the TWA Terminal alone. Read More

By Matt Chaban 2/07/11 5:58pm

Checking in

Takeoff! City’s Coolest Hotel Landing at… JFK?

One of the best buildings in New York has lain dormant for a decade, with no one really wanting anything to do with it. That would be the old TWA terminal designed by renowned architect Eero Saarinen. The gull-in-flight concrete structure is an international icon, but it lost its purpose when the airline went bankrupt Read More