NEW YORK – Stewart International Airport near Newburgh is now going
to be known as New York Stewart International Airport.
The Port Authority wants to market the facility as a New York metropolitan
area facility and wanted to add “New York” into the name.
The initial thought was to rename it New York International at Stewart
Field; however, the Stewart family vociferously objected to that, so late
Wednesday the Port announced it has reached a consensus with the family
to name the airport New York Stewart.
The new name has the blessing of the Stewart Family. Thomas Hafer, the
grandson of airport benefactor Thomas “Archie” Stewart, was
glad to see the family name retained.
“I think that the Port Authority has acted wisely and appropriately
in the name change issue and also in some of the other measures they are
going to be adopting,” he said. “We think that this will be
a very positive set of developments for the airport and for the region
as a whole.”
In the 1930, Thomas “Archie” Stewart and his uncle, Samuel
Lachlan Stewart, donated 220 acres of farmland to the City of Newburgh
to be used as an airport. Over the decades, Stewart was called Stewart
Field when the US Army Air Corps used it to train West Point Cadets. It
was later called Stewart Air Force Base and in 1970, when it was placed
in the hands of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, it
was dubbed Stewart International Airport.
In the early 1980s, Stewart was transferred to the state Department of
Transportation. April 17, 1990 saw the first regularly scheduled passenger
service. In the late 1990s, the state sold the airport to National Express
Corporation of England, which later sold the operating rights to the Port
Authority in November 2007.
Now, with Norwegian Air’s successful direct flights between Stewart
and Europe and the planned construction of a $37 million passenger terminal
upgrade to include a Federal Inspection Section, Port Authority officials
believe inclusion of “New York” in the name will help grow
the facility.
