Editing Marine Air Terminal (section)

==== Use as international terminal ====
By the mid-1940s, the small capacity of LaGuardia Airport could not handle the increasing demand for international flights.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 13, 1945 |title=Airline Expansion to Tax Field Here; Capacity of La Guardia Unit Seen Exceeded in Winter by Projected Flights |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/09/13/archives/airline-expansion-to-tax-field-here-capacity-of-la-guardia-unit.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/1945/09/13/archives/airline-expansion-to-tax-field-here-capacity-of-la-guardia-unit.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Despite the obsolescence of seaplanes, LaGuardia Airport was the only major airport in the U.S. which offered regular flights to Europe.<ref name="p133712791" /> To address increasing congestion at the Marine Air Terminal, the city government and representatives of several airlines agreed in June 1946 to spend $50,000 on upgrading the customs facilities at the terminal.<ref name="p1284555501">{{cite news |date=June 19, 1946 |title=City Accepts Air-Line Plan To Speed Travel: $50,000 Addition Planned to Marine Terminal for More Customs Officials |page=17A |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1284555501}}}}</ref> Although the terminal had begun to serve land planes, it could only fit one plane at a time, and passengers frequently had to wait three to four hours before passing through customs.<ref name="p1284558453">{{cite news |date=June 12, 1946 |title=City Seeks to Cut 3-Hour Delay Of Air Travelers From Abroad |page=24 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1284558453}}}}</ref> The ''[[Daily Boston Globe]]'' wrote that the rotunda often saw as much traffic as a [[New York City Subway|subway]] station during rush hours, with up to ten overseas flights trying to land nearly simultaneously at the busiest times.<ref name="p840582727">{{cite news |date=January 2, 1950 |title=Overseas Airlines Desert LaGuardia for Idlewild |page=23 |work=Daily Boston Globe |id={{proQuest|840582727}}}}</ref> The Marine Air Terminal served 14 airlines; the overcrowded conditions had prompted one airline owner to purchase an old ferryboat and moor it next to the Marine Air Terminal.<ref name="p1287122323">{{cite news |date=July 30, 1946 |title=Oldtime Flyer Buys Ferry as Air-Line Office: Peru-Line Owner Seeks to Moor It at La Guardia Field as Headquarters |page=13A |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1287122323}}}}</ref><ref name="nyt-">{{Cite news |date=July 30, 1946 |title=Airline Buys Ferryboat To Serve as Terminal |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/07/30/archives/airline-buys-ferryboat-to-serve-as-terminal.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804203705/https://www.nytimes.com/1946/07/30/archives/airline-buys-ferryboat-to-serve-as-terminal.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

The improvements included the addition of a {{convert|1000|ft|m|-long|adj=mid}} covered walkway, three gates for arriving passengers, and two gates for departing passengers.<ref name="nyt-1946-11-08">{{Cite news |date=November 8, 1946 |title=Air Passengers Aided; New Airport Facilities Speed Clearance on Foreign Trips |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/11/08/archives/air-passengers-aided-new-airport-facilities-speed-clearance-on.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804203706/https://www.nytimes.com/1946/11/08/archives/air-passengers-aided-new-airport-facilities-speed-clearance-on.html |url-status=live}}</ref> After the terminal reopened on November 7, 1946, it was renamed the International Air Terminal, serving all of LaGuardia's transatlantic flights.<ref name="nyt-1946-11-08" /><ref name="p1287144668">{{cite news |date=November 7, 1946 |title=New Facilities At La Guardia To Open Today: Marine Terminal Customs Clearance Stepped Up for Ocean Passengers |page=25B |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1287144668}}}}</ref> Meanwhile, [[Idlewild Airport|Idlewild (now JFK) Airport]] was being built in southern Queens to accommodate international and transcontinental flights.<ref name="nyt-2022-07-21" /> The [[Port of New York Authority]] took over operation of LaGuardia and Idlewild airports in June 1947.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 2, 1947 |title=New Airport Offer to Go to Newark; Port Authority, Taking Over Fields, Will Bid for Newark Airport Again |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/06/02/archives/new-airport-offer-to-go-to-newark-port-authority-taking-over-fields.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804203706/https://www.nytimes.com/1947/06/02/archives/new-airport-offer-to-go-to-newark-port-authority-taking-over-fields.html |url-status=live}}</ref> That September, Port Authority officials suggested extending one of LaGuardia's runways by infilling an unused plot of land next to the International Air Terminal.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 12, 1947 |title=Navy Seen Keeping Bennett Airfield; Port Authority Has Little Hope for Its Use to Relieve La Guardia, Cullman Says |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/09/12/archives/navy-seen-keeping-bennett-airfield-port-authority-has-little-hope.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804203719/https://www.nytimes.com/1947/09/12/archives/navy-seen-keeping-bennett-airfield-port-authority-has-little-hope.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The terminal served 314,000 passengers a year in 1948, many more than it had been built to accommodate.<ref name="p133712791" />

Air traffic at the terminal started to decline after Idlewild opened in 1948.<ref name="p1327305668">{{cite news |date=June 28, 1957 |title=Air Line Using Marine Terminal |page=2 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327305668}}}}</ref> The terminal was renamed the Overseas Terminal in August 1949 because passengers frequently confused it with Idlewild, which was formally known as New York International Airport.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 1, 1949 |title=News of the Aviation World; United States International Airlines Show Drop in Percentage of Passengers |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/08/01/archives/news-of-the-aviation-world-united-states-international-airlines.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804203718/https://www.nytimes.com/1949/08/01/archives/news-of-the-aviation-world-united-states-international-airlines.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In the years after Idlewild opened, most transatlantic flights at the Overseas Terminal were moved over to Idlewild. The terminal had become empty most of the time, and Pan Am, [[American Overseas Airlines]], and [[Trans World Airlines]] were the only airlines still operating international flights from the terminal.<ref name="p840582727" /> Pan Am relocated most of its operations from the terminal in early 1951,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=April 17, 1951 |title=Pan American Set for Idlewild Move; Will Complete Transfer Job Tomorrow—Only Bermuda Service at La Guardia |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/04/17/archives/pan-american-set-for-idlewild-move-will-complete-transfer-job.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804203718/https://www.nytimes.com/1951/04/17/archives/pan-american-set-for-idlewild-move-will-complete-transfer-job.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and the last transatlantic flight from the Overseas Terminal departed on April 28, 1951.<ref name="p1320094701">{{cite news |date=April 29, 1951 |title=La Guardia Field Through As a Trans-Atlantic Base |page=2 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1320094701}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=April 29, 1951 |title=La Guardia Unit Loses Flights |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/04/29/archives/la-guardia-unit-loses-flights.html |access-date=August 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804203705/https://www.nytimes.com/1951/04/29/archives/la-guardia-unit-loses-flights.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Afterward, only flights to Bermuda continued to operate out of Marine Air Terminal.<ref name=":0" /> These flights lasted for less than a year, and service from the Overseas Terminal ceased in February 1952.<ref name="nyt-1995-10-01" /> Around that time, the ''Flight'' mural in the terminal was painted over<ref name="nyt-1995-10-01" /><ref name="Robins p. 228" /> for reasons unknown even to James Brooks, the mural's own artist.<ref name="n106968466">{{Cite news |date=February 2, 1979 |title=Airport Mural to Be Restored |pages=6 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106968466/airport-mural-to-be-restored/ |access-date=August 5, 2022 |archive-date=August 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805013323/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106968466/airport-mural-to-be-restored/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Brooks did not learn that the mural had been painted over until after the fact.<ref name="p133712791" /><ref name="n106970526">{{Cite news |last=Gross |first=Kenneth |date=September 19, 1980 |title=Mural Restored, But the Hurt Remains |pages=17 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106970526/mural-restored-but-the-hurt/ |access-date=August 5, 2022 |archive-date=August 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805013324/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106970526/mural-restored-but-the-hurt/ |url-status=live}}</ref>