Newark’s reviled Terminal A is getting a $2.7b upgrade

Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport has long been one of the most reviled public spaces in New Jersey. Travelers have carped about its long lines, its shortage of seating and its cramped corridors, narrowed to make room for portable toilets. On Tuesday, state officials gathered to announce that the end of all of those inconveniences was in sight. A huge new Terminal A, filled with art, natural light and plenty of seats, is scheduled to open on Dec. 8. “We are here to bury the old Terminal A, not to praise it,” said Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat. He said the old Terminal A had “stood as an oftentimes trying, occasionally painful and always exhausting place.” But replacing the 49-year-old terminal was not easy nor inexpensive. The new terminal, which will be home to several airlines, including American and JetBlue, took several months longer than expected to complete and cost more than $2.7b. That sum made it the most expensive infrastructure ever built in the state by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said Kevin O’Toole, the Port Authority’s chairman. O’Toole, a former state lawmaker, said it was important to him that travelers would know they were in New Jersey when they stepped off a plane. So the terminal is filled with local references: a big “NJ” sculpture, perfect as an Instagram backdrop, and toilet stalls decorated with images from the Jersey Shore or the Pinelands. “We worked hard to create a truly New Jersey sense of place,” said Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority. Some of the stores and restaurants are locally owned or native to the state. Newark’s mayor, Ras Baraka, said he was pleased that some local businesses had spaces in the terminal’s main hall. “The people in the city have to benefit from its growth and development, and this is an example of that today,” Baraka said.<br/>