When you think of international air travel in Queens, JFK and LaGuardia instantly soar to mind. But there is a third, long-forgotten aviation hub hidden in plain sight—and after sitting completely abandoned and derelict for over four decades, it’s officially staging one of the biggest infrastructure comebacks in New York City history.
The aviation hub in question is the former Flushing Airport, an 80-acre municipal site tucked away in College Point. While it’s spent the last 42 years as an overgrown, swampy time capsule, a massive $3.2 billion mega-rebuild plan is officially locked in to bring this ghost airfield back to life.
The dynamic history of NYC’s first major airfield
Long before LaGuardia took over the borough’s airspace, Flushing Airport was the absolute epicenter of local aviation.
Originally opening back in 1927, the 80-acre site actually had a brief stint as the busiest airfield in all of New York City. It boasted four clay runways and served as a critical base for the Civil Air Patrol during World War II.
Once commercial traffic shifted over to the much larger LaGuardia Airport in 1939, Flushing Airport slowly faded into the background.
Following years of localized flooding and structural decline, the airport officially slammed its gates shut in 1984.
For the last 42 years, the valuable land sat entirely vacant, boarded up, and fenced off, slowly reverting into an untouched, wild urban wetland. Multiple administrations tried—and failed—to redevelop the site into warehouses or commercial plazas, but the legendary site refused to budge…until now.
A $3.2 billion glow up for the forgotten airport
The sweeping overhaul will completely revitalize the historic airfield, though no planes will be taking off. Instead, the city is transforming the massive vacant tract into a sustainable, mixed-use green community built entirely with 100% union labor.
The massive project is projected to generate $3.2 billion in economic activity over the next 30 years, injecting life directly back into the borough.
Mind-blowing upgrades coming to the airfield:
- A Massive 60-Acre Public Park: Rather than destroying the landscape, the design will integrate 60 acres of public parkland directly into the modern wetlands environment. Expect nature walks, sitting areas, elevated rambles, natural open space vistas, and protected wildlife habitats
- 3,000 New Homes: The site will deliver a sweeping 3,000-unit residential community specifically targeting workforce housing for NYC’s everyday heroes, including teachers, first responders, and construction workers
- Cutting-Edge Sustainability: The project is exploring innovative mass timber construction and highly sustainable architectural designs to blend seamlessly into the surrounding ecosystem
Former NYC Mayor Eric Adams noted during the project’s unveiling:
For too many decades, this valuable land has sat vacant, but our administration said it was time to change that…We are advancing generational projects to deliver the housing New Yorkers need and fighting every day to make our city more affordable and the best place to raise a family.
When does it open?
Because the airport has spent nearly half a century reverting into a delicate wetland ecosystem, developers have to clear an intense Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) and rigorous environmental reviews before breaking ground.
While we still have a bit of a wait ahead of us, preliminary timelines lock in the official start of construction for 2028. Once underway, the mega-project is slated to create over 1,300 union construction jobs and 530 permanent careers for the borough.