NEW YORK – Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled his plan to modernize airports in the metropolitan area including Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, N.Y.
Vice President Joe Biden was with the governor for the announcement in New York City on Monday.
Cuomo’s plan for Stewart includes establishing a regional cargo distribution hub by growing its current cargo capacity. That, the governor said, would relieve JFK Airport of most cargo shipping facilities and create room to expand potential amenities and services for JFK.

Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. President Laurence Gottlieb called the plan “an intriguing” proposal. “Many of us in the region for quite some time have said that Stewart is underutilized and this certainly would bring a comprehensive view to air travel as well as cargo shipping within the whole lower New York region, which is critical,” Gottlieb said. “The more you can regionalize operations the better all of the airports will be.”

Stewart is already positioned to expand into a larger air cargo role with FedEx and UPS currently operating flight operations. The U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture also have facilities there.

To promote and maximize expanded distribution, the state will propose creating a tax-free START-UP NY Zone at Stewart that allows companies to move back-office manufacturing into one, connected major distribution center.

The efforts, the governor said, will complement the $20 million federal inspection facility to process international passengers, which will soon be under construction and will be completed by 2017.