Lot Owners: LaGuardia Congestion Is Creating Turbulence For Parking Business

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Construction at LaGuardia Airport is not only a headache for those catching a flight, but apparently also for private parking lot owners in the area.

Some claim business is so bad they may have to close down.

Parking has been Jim Sparro's livelihood for 27 years, but the Airpark co-owner worries it could change because of renovations at LaGuardia Airport for the past year.

"It's really scary, at this point in time we're scrambling to find out what we can do," he said.

Instead of trying to navigate an airport mess with traffic congestion and fears of limited parking are choosing MTA buses or car services like Uber.

"It's just easier to figure out the logistics ahead of time, not bring my car into it, and figure out another way," Lauren Pepe said.

"I don't wanna drive with all the construction going on, that's for sure," Kim Bascom said, "With public transportation it seems the access is better."

The Landing Airport Parking Lot down the block is also struggling. A worker said business is down roughly 50 percent with fewer cars in the lot on a regular basis.

"It's not what it used to be because of construction," he said.

Sparro said media announcements put out by the Port Authority don't help.

"In these ads they neglect to mention there's alternative parking outside the airport," he said.

The parking lots are across the Grand Central Parkway, not on Port Authority land, but they do pay the state agency thousands a month in order to drive passenger filled shuttles into the airport.

"I think they should've had a meeting to let everyone know what they could do," Richard Baez said.

Sparro said he tried to start a dialogue, but has gotten nowhere. A spokesperson said their main goal is to keep traffic moving at the airport, so they must encourage mass transit, but business owners don't know howlong they cna last.

The east side of LaGuardia has been under construction for more than a year. Work on the west side started earlier this month.