High Flying Fiorello and the Airfield That Bares His Name

With so many Queens residents traveling for the holidays, Patch figured there's a good chance some locals will likely pass through LaGuardia Airport on their way to or from their family getaway.

So, we thought it was only fitting to write a brief history on the first major commercial airport to call New York City its home.

With so much oft-overlooked trivia about this hub of aviation history, there is much for passengers to ponder the next time they wait patiently in line at LGA's security check point.

Did you know that Time Magazine once called Queens' oldest commercial airfield: "the most pretentious land and seaplane base in the world?"

Indeed, one would never guess that, in 1960, LaGuardia Airport was actually voted the "greatest airport in the world" by the worldwide aviation community.

A far cry from the traveler of today, who lives in constant dread of randomly selected stripped searches or, worse yet, the very real fear of having their holiday fruit cake confiscated for "safety reasons."

Still, right from its less than humble beginnings, LaGuardia Airport - then alternately referred to as New York Municipal Airport - was a driving force in the airport industry.

Located on the waterfront of Flushing and Bowery Bays and bordered by Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst, LaGuardia was officially dedicated on Oct. 15, 1939 and cost the city less than $23 million to build.

In just two short years, LaGuardia was heralded as a huge financial success, bringing in nearly $1 million of revenue in non-travel related sales from admission fees and food sales made to locals visiting an observation deck located at the airport.

In fact, in those very early days, the public was so mesmerized by the magic of air travel that thousands of pilgrims would visit the airfield annually just to watch planes take off and land.

Juxtapose this to modern day's general malaise for flying and airports and it becomes clear that the LaGuardia of yore is long gone.

Today, with the golden age of aviation a widely forgotten history, LaGuardia holds the title of last place in the United States for passenger satisfaction.

Even so, it still handles, on average, an estimated 24 million passengers every year and welcomes people from all over the world into the city that never sleeps.