The plan to create a fourth major airport that could relieve crowding and delays in the metropolitan region will take a leap forward today, officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said yesterday.
The Port Authority plans to acquire a 93-year lease on Stewart International Airport, a sleepy and underused airport 60 miles north of New York City, for $78.5 million and begin expanding it starting in the fall, said Anthony R. Coscia, the agency's chairman.
With the expected approval of the agency's board today, the acquisition could help solve a problem that has bedeviled aviation officials for almost 50 years: where to send some of the travelers and cargo that are starting to overwhelm Kennedy International, La Guardia and Newark Liberty International Airports.