Editing Marine Air Terminal (section)

==== Opening and early years ====
[[File:LGA MAT 1940.jpg|thumb|A [[Boeing 314 Clipper]] at the Marine Air Terminal c. 1940|alt=Aerial view of a Boeing 314 Clipper at the Marine Air Terminal circa 1940]]The Marine Air Terminal officially opened on March 31, 1940, when a Clipper carrying ten crew members, nine passengers, and over 5,000 pounds (2,300&nbsp;kg) of mail departed from the terminal.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 1, 1940 |title=Throng at Airport Sees Clipper Off, Opening City Base; Crowds, Clipper and Passengers at Opening of New York $7,500,000 Sea Airport |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/04/01/archives/throng-at-airport-sees-clipper-off-opening-city-base-crowds-clipper.html |access-date=August 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220803235337/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/04/01/archives/throng-at-airport-sees-clipper-off-opening-city-base-crowds-clipper.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="p151243567">{{cite news |last=Robb |first=Inez |date=April 1, 1940 |title=Cheers Speed First Europe-Bound Plane To Soar From LaGuardia Airport |page=9 |newspaper=The Washington Post |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|151243567}}}}</ref> This flight landed in [[Lisbon]], [[Portugal]], 18 hours and 35 minutes later, setting a record for an eastbound transatlantic Clipper flight.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 3, 1940 |title=First Clipper Out of La Guardia Terminal Sets a Record for the Crossing to Lisbon |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/04/03/archives/first-clipper-out-of-la-guardia-terminal-sets-a-record-for-the.html |access-date=August 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220803235336/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/04/03/archives/first-clipper-out-of-la-guardia-terminal-sets-a-record-for-the.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The first flying boat to arrive at the Marine Air Terminal arrived from Bermuda on April 1, 1940.<ref name="p1341347855">{{cite news |date=April 2, 1940 |title=Clipper Lands Censored Mail At North Beach: First In at Marine Base; Line Says British Kept 'Few, If Any,' Letters |page=6 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1341347855}}}}</ref> At the time, the terminal served three transatlantic trips per week.<ref name="p1341347855" /> A brochure distributed on the terminal's opening day proclaimed it as "an enduring terminal linking the air routes of the old world with those of the new".<ref name="p133712791">{{cite news |last=Newman |first=Barry |date=May 15, 1973 |title=That Fabulous Airport Of Flying-Boat Days Is Yecch-Blue Now: Some Talk of Restoring Mural, But the Artist Doesn't Care; Landing the Yankee Clippers Fabulous Airport for Flying Boats Is Yecch-Blue Now; Mural Is Gone |page=1 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|133712791}}}}</ref> Originally, members of the public were allowed to visit the Marine Air Terminal's observation deck,<ref name="nyt-1940-03-31" /> which became a popular place to observe seaplane and airplane landings.<ref name="nyt-2022-07-21">{{Cite news |last1=McGeehan |first1=Patrick |last2=Prior |first2=Thomas |date=July 21, 2022 |title=Wait, La Guardia Is Nice Now? Inside New York's $25 Billion Airport Overhaul |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/21/nyregion/nyc-airports-renovation.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804080750/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/21/nyregion/nyc-airports-renovation.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The deck was closed for security reasons during World War II.<ref name="nyt-1945-06-30" />

In July 1940, [[American Export Airlines]] and city officials began discussing the possibility of constructing a second seaplane hangar next to the Marine Air Terminal. American Export wanted to operate a transatlantic passenger route from LaGuardia Airport, but Pan Am did not have any more space in its existing hangar.<ref name="p1249141821">{{cite news |date=July 17, 1940 |title=Export Airlines Seeks Terminal At North Beach: Negotiations Start Today on Space for Atlantic Run; New Hangar May Be Built |page=19 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1249141821}}}}</ref> The [[New York City Planning Commission]] approved the proposed hangar in April 1941, allocating $389,000 to the project.<ref name="p513613581">{{cite news |date=April 4, 1941 |title=New Seaplane Hangar Planned at N. Y. Airport |page=5 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |id={{ProQuest|513613581}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=April 3, 1941 |title=New Hangar Approved; Planning Commission Favors $389,000 Seaplane Building |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/04/03/archives/new-hangar-approved-planning-commission-favors-389000-seaplane.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804014058/https://www.nytimes.com/1941/04/03/archives/new-hangar-approved-planning-commission-favors-389000-seaplane.html |url-status=live}}</ref> LaGuardia attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the second hangar on August 4, 1941,<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 5, 1941 |title=Seaplane Hangar Begun at Airport; Mayor Breaks Ground at City Field – He Warns of Sending Britain Transport Planes |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/08/05/archives/seaplane-hangar-begun-at-airport-mayor-breaks-ground-at-city-field.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804014059/https://www.nytimes.com/1941/08/05/archives/seaplane-hangar-begun-at-airport-mayor-breaks-ground-at-city-field.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and work on the hangar began that December.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 4, 1941 |title=New Hangar Is Started; It Will House Export Airlines Craft at La Guardia Field |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/12/04/archives/new-hangar-is-started-it-will-house-export-airlines-craft-at-la.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804014100/https://www.nytimes.com/1941/12/04/archives/new-hangar-is-started-it-will-house-export-airlines-craft-at-la.html |url-status=live}}</ref> [[James Brooks (painter)|James Brooks]] completed his ''Flight'' mural inside the main terminal building in September 1942.<ref name="nyt-1942-09-20" /><ref name="p1796833884">{{cite magazine |date=September 21, 1942 |title=Flight Around the Rotunda |magazine=Newsweek |volume=10 |issue=12 |pages=76 |id={{ProQuest|1796833884}}}}</ref> The following year, in April 1943, an expansion to the original Pan Am hangar was completed. By then, the Marine Air Terminal had more than one transatlantic trip per day.<ref name="nyt-1943-04-01">{{Cite news |date=April 1, 1943 |title=New Marine Airport for Post-War Needs; Commissioner McKenzie Speaks at Anniversary of Clipper |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/04/01/archives/new-marine-airport-for-postwar-needs-commissioner-mckenzie-speaks.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804014101/https://www.nytimes.com/1943/04/01/archives/new-marine-airport-for-postwar-needs-commissioner-mckenzie-speaks.html |url-status=live}}</ref> American Export's new hangar opened in July 1943,<ref name="nyt-1943-07-29">{{Cite news |date=July 29, 1943 |title=New Terminal Ready for Atlantic Planes; American Export Lines Base at City Airport Opens Tomorrow |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/07/29/archives/new-terminal-ready-for-atlantic-planes-american-export-lines-base.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804014059/https://www.nytimes.com/1943/07/29/archives/new-terminal-ready-for-atlantic-planes-american-export-lines-base.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and the terminal's observation deck reopened in June 1945.<ref name="nyt-1945-06-30">{{Cite news |date=June 30, 1945 |title=Observation Deck Opens At City Airport Today |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/06/30/archives/observation-deck-opens-at-city-airport-today.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804014100/https://www.nytimes.com/1945/06/30/archives/observation-deck-opens-at-city-airport-today.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

A ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' article in 1942 noted that Clipper flights came from as far as "Capetown, Lisbon, New Zealand, the Orient, Alaska and other remote places".<ref name="p1265926480">{{cite news |last=Taylor |first=William H. |date=May 3, 1942 |title=Sightseers Flock to LaGuardia Field Again: Cut in Touring Likely to Bring Larger Crowds Transportation Lo Airport Being Steadily Bettered; Warplanes Often Seen |page=A6 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1265926480}}}}</ref> During the Second World War, many soldiers would fly to Europe and Africa from the terminal, and political figures such as U.S. first lady [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] and British prime minister [[Winston Churchill]] also flew from the terminal.<ref name="p546113347">{{cite news |last=Lacy |first=John |date=July 2, 1980 |title=Flying Hush Hush from La Guardia |page=15 |work=The Hartford Courant |id={{ProQuest|546113347}}}}</ref> Even so, the Marine Air Terminal lasted as a seaplane terminal for less than a decade.<ref name="NYCL p. 3">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1980|ps=.|p=3}}</ref><ref name="NPS p. 5">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1982|ps=.|p=5}}</ref> When the terminal opened, seaplanes were generally more technologically advanced than traditional land planes; the earliest four-engine aircraft, capable of flying long distances, had been seaplanes. However, they were also more prone to disruption, particularly during the winter months and in poor tidal conditions, when they could not operate. Land planes were not affected by these issues, and land-plane technology was also improving quickly.<ref name="nyt-1940-11-10">{{Cite news |date=November 10, 1940 |title=Land Planes Span Ocean; Airline Outgrows Webbed Foot as New Airports Shift Bases Inland |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/11/10/archives/land-planes-span-ocean-airline-outgrows-webbed-foot-as-new-airports.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804014058/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/11/10/archives/land-planes-span-ocean-airline-outgrows-webbed-foot-as-new-airports.html |url-status=live}}</ref> With the outbreak of [[World War II]], new four-engine land planes were being developed, making these seaplanes obsolete.<ref name="NYCL p. 3" /><ref name="NPS p. 5" /> Pan Am stopped operating the 314s into the terminal in June 1945 but continued to operate other service into the terminal.<ref name="n107064048">{{Cite news |last=Erickson |first=Charles |date=September 1, 2000 |title=A Grand New Role for LaGuardia's Marine Air Terminal |pages=43 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107064048/a-grand-new-role-for-laguardias-marine/ |access-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806182935/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107064048/a-grand-new-role-for-laguardias-marine/ |url-status=live}}</ref>