New Jersey approves purchase of Stewart Airport

New Jersey approves purchase of Stewart Airport    New Jersey lawmakers voted Thursday to give the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey permission to buy Stewart International Airport, 60 miles north of the city in Newburgh, N.Y.
   The Associated Press reports that the assembly voted 60-18 to give final legislative approval of the deal.
   The bill allows the port authority to buy or build two airports, one in New York and one in New Jersey, outside of the agency's district, which is a 25-mile radius with the Statue of Liberty as the center point. Since the port authority is a bi-state agency, it must have New York law match with New Jersey law for legislation such as this.
   The port authority is hoping to begin operations at Stewart in October after finalizing a 93-year, $78.5 million dollar lease.
   Port authority officials believe Stewart's 1.5 million-passenger-a-year capacity could alleviate some congestion at LaGuardia, JFK and Newark International, which already handle in excess of 100 million passengers a year.