Author: Julia Lauria-Blum

For those who love aviation, it enters their lives in its own special way and through their own unique experience. From the first moment humankind gazed skyward, came the yearning to take flight. Perhaps a quote by Wilbur Wright summarizes the quest to break free of earthly boundaries best, “The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space on the infinite highway of the air.” From the dawn of aviation, through its Golden Age and beyond, aviators have challenged themselves to exceed their physical limitations,…

A Collaboration of Art at LaGuardia & Newark Liberty International Airports Public art in airports; in addition to aesthetics, the value of having works of art that are freely accessible to the public is a social, cultural, and economic benefit for travelers, communities, and airport staff. In their traditionally harried and automated environments, airports enrich the travel experience by adding permanent public art to terminals worldwide, personalizing and vitalizing their built environments. Art installations offer a strong sense of time and place, identity, diversity, and a communal history unique to its cultured locale. The very presence of art at airport…

The John F. Kennedy International Air Terminal (JFKIAT) was founded in 1997 when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey sought a public/private partnership for the existing International Arrivals Building (IAB), which opened in 1957 to accommodate propeller-driven aircraft. Investment banking firm Lehman Brothers, real estate developer LCOR, Inc., Schiphol USA Inc. (an affiliate of Amsterdam-based Royal Schiphol Group, a leading airport operator), teamed up and were rewarded the lease to redevelop the IAB, which opened in May 2001 as Terminal 4 (T4) after undergoing a $1.4 billion redevelopment that transformed the former IAB into a modern and…

Travelers will be able to experience immersive art experiences while journeying through John F. Kennedy International Air Terminal 4, as JFKIAT, the operator of Terminal 4, announced on Wednesday that it is expanding the T4 Arts & Culture program to present a curated, ongoing series of installations, exhibits and performances throughout the year that represent the full New York City experience, from local art and music, to food, culture, and beyond. JFKIAT formed a new committee to facilitate the program, including the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY), Delta Air Lines, The Port Authority of New York and…

At the newly renovated Mineola Station, along the main line of the Long Island Railroad, stands a work of public art depicting two figures cast in bronze, which are larger than life, both historically and figuratively. These two noteworthy figures are aviator Bessica Raiche and a dog named Roxey. Today, their largely untold and remarkable stories of courage, pluck, and determination are discovered in the recently unveiled sculpture, ‘Bessie & Roxey,’ which measures a combined 20 feet, 6 inches tall, and is placed on a stone pedestal at the plaza of the LIRR Mineola Station alongside the railroad tracks that…

The Rise of Women in the Industry In most developed countries, people have taken for granted their ability to receive the everyday goods they depend on without much thought about the ports the goods originate from or the logistics behind the arrival and delivery of cargo via intermodal transport. Whether by land, sea, or air, a major part of the U.S. and the global economy is dependent upon the manufacture and distribution of goods, as well as the access to materials that are needed to produce them. The safe transport of air cargo is a facilitator of trade and the…

If you’re looking for rainbows, look up to the sky; you’ll never find rainbows if you’re looking down.Charlie Chaplin In 1967, Charlie Chaplin composed these lyrics for the score of the new theatrical release of his 1928 silent film, ‘The Circus.’ This score accompanied the United Artists’ re-release of the film in 1969, with a recording of Chaplin singing the song’s lyrics himself. Rainbows, the multi-colored spectrum created by an arc of colors, and the refraction and dispersion of the sun’s light by rain droplets, are a wonder to behold. French philosopher Rene Descartes called wonderment the first passion of…

JFKIAT, the operator of Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, partnered with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and held a program at T4 to raise awareness of human trafficking, which took place on January 11th, National Human Traffic Awareness Day. An information table was placed in the retail hall where travelers and employees passing through the terminal could learn more about the crime of human trafficking. Before the program, the community and people from all over the country were invited to participate in raising awareness by wearing blue attire, which is the international color of human trafficking…

From July to November of 1919, one of the most significant, yet lesser-known pioneers of aviation, US Army Air Corps Lt. Ernest Emery Harmon, successfully piloted the very first flight around the rim of the continental United States. The nation closely observed this trailblazing ‘Round-the-Rim’ flight, stirring front-page headlines across the country. The flight began at Bolling Field, Washington DC, and flew counterclockwise westward across the northern states, along the Pacific Coast, eastward along the Mexican border, and then across the South, returning to Bolling for a total distance of approximately 10,000 miles that were flown in 114 hours and…

“New York is the front door to the nation, this is the gateway to the largest metro region in the country, which at its core is New York City.” Dr. Gerrard Bushell Gerrard Bushell holds a genuine, deep-rooted connection to New York, which is embedded in its metropolis. As president and CEO of the New Terminal One (NTO) at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Dr. Bushell is leading the team responsible for advancing a public/private partnership with the Port Authority, with a mission to deliver a special world-class experience in the building of an international terminal that will offer…