After a long flight, travelers must often deal with the bad weather while waiting in a long taxi line out at the curb.
But at JFK International Airport Terminal 4 in New York, taxi dispatchers have travelers line up inside the baggage hall, where they are protected from the elements and, presumably, from unauthorized operators.
Makes sense all around.
Some of the nipped nips, courtesy of the Queens (NY) District Attorney’s Office
In one of those ‘only in New York’ stories, on Wednesday, the Queens District Attorney
announced that 18 airport workers – fifteen present and former
truck drivers employed by LSG Sky Chefs, the food and beverage subcontractor for American Airlines, along with several security guards, were arrested and charged in connection with the theft of more than 100,000 mini bottles (nips) of liquor and other items, including perfume and cartons of cigarettes, from John F. Kennedy International Airport over the last five months.
The investigation was dubbed “Operation Last Call” and the defendants are charged with stealing more than $750,000 worth of items. According to the press release from district attorney Brown’s office, most of the defendants were arrested “after they were summoned to attend an important security meeting at the airport” and, at the residence of one of the defendants “…alleged items seized … were 500 to 600 garbage bags filled with mini liquor bottles (each bag containing approximately 100 bottles) worth between $385,000 and $420,000, as well as $34,000 in cash.”
Here at StuckatTheAirport.com we’re a big fan of free wireless Internet at all airports. Slowly but surely we’re moving in that direction. In July, Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) began offering free Wi-FI to all travelers and now comes word that Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) began offering free Wi-Fi at the beginning of this month (August, 2010). Hooray!
Hooray! Free Wi-Fi at Toronto International Airport
There’s also some fresh art at John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Santa Ana, California.
Mt. Moran by Steven Gilb at John Wayne Airport
Photographs by Steven Gilb, who has been a contributing photographer for Arizona’s Highway Magazine since the 1970s are on display through September 7, 2010 on the Departure (upper) Level near the security screening checkpoints and on the Arrival (lower) Level near baggage carousels 1 and 4. See more of Gilb’s photos here.
And through September 20, 2010, look for the collection of paintings depicting the Jazz Age that are on display in the Terminal A Vi Smith Concourse Gallery across from Gates 11 -14.
Don't Eat Joe by Dong Moy Chu Kingman
The exhibition includes work by 12 California artists who explored geometric and angular abstraction during the Post WWII era. See more photos here.
And.. check out these photos by Taryn Simon that were published in the New York Times magazine on July 29, 2010.
Contraband becomes art
The photos – including one of a pitcher of salami – are from a set of more than 1000 photos of prohibited items taken from passengers – or discovered in express mail – over a five day period last year at JFK Airport. (On-line, you can click on an image to see what’s what.) The photos will be part of an exhibition and a book (now on my wish list, Santa) titled “Contraband.”
You can learn more about this project on the New York Times Lens blog.
Today marks the grand opening of The Palm Bar & Grille in the pre-security area of Terminal 4 at JFK International Airport , the airport where an air traffic controller is in hot water over letting his kids on the mike in the control tower.
This is the first airport location of the famed New York steakhouse, and it joins a line-up of dining options in Terminal 4 that also includes the first U.S. location for the Seafood Bar by Caviar House & Prunier and two new post-security, sit-down restaurants Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar and Tigin Irish Pub & Restaurant (scheduled to open May 2010).
And down in Texas, the popular Houston-based Pappas Restaurants has just opened Pappasito’s Cantina in Terminal A (by Gate 28) at DFW International Airport. The Tex-Mex menu includes fajitas, enchiladas, tortillas and, of course, margaritas.
In addition to the airport freebies I wrote about yesterday here at StuckatTheAirport.com, we have a few more airport events and giveaways to seek out during your Thanksgiving trek through the airport:
If you’re traveling through Boston’s Logan International Airport or Seattle-Tacoma International Airport today (Wed. Nov 25, 2009) look around for the “Fareologists” from Bing Travel. They’ll be answering travel questions (try to stump them by asking where the best place is to buy an extra pair of underwear) and surprising some folks (1,000 in all) in the ticketing areas by giving them a $15 card redeemable for cash anywhere MasterCard is accepted. Nice!
If you’re at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) Wednesday between 10 and 11 am look around for the world-famous Radio City Rockettes, who will be performing -and no doubt posing for photos with travelers – in the Baggage Claim area and at the Security Checkpoint in the Landside Terminal.
And between 8 am and 5 pm today (and on Saturday and Sunday; November 28-29, 2009) you can stop by an “Airport Privacy Haven” in Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) or New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport for a free massage and complimentary Wi-Fi between 8 am and 5 pm.
Enjoy!