According to Russell, the community will also benefit from the aviation institute now under development at York College. The Port Authority initiated the project and granted the college nearly $1 million thus far to get it underway.

And that’s all after the money already invested into the community through the construction project. Russell said, "I have been mindful of the community’s needs and millions of dollars worth of contracts were awarded to minority contractors through this project. My responsibility was to make sure the [Southeast Queens] community had every opportunity to benefit from this project."

The hiring process, according to Philippa Karteron, assistant deputy administrator for the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) and Project Coordinator for the Air Train job placement, is a partnership between the Port Authority, Human Resources Agency, Department of Labor and Department of Employment. Hiring already in progress, is being done in three stages she said.

Artist’s rendering of Jamaica Station.

The initial stage took place in fall 2000, phase two is set for spring 2001 and phase three is scheduled for fall 2001.

"The idea is to make the process as inclusive as possible and ensure that workers from Southeast Queens have a real opportunity to take advantage of these job opportunities," said Karteron.

The job opportunities were advertised via an application blank placed in local newspapers, according to Karteron, who explained that the applications were then mailed to a central post office box.

Out Of 7,000 applications received, 6052 were viable, according to Karteron.

An outside computer company then ran a lottery to pick the candidates for screening for the 100 or so jobs that will be filled by 2002. Karteron added that applications not being used for the first round of jobs will be held over for the next round of jobs and the next lottery process.

However, in this first round, "There was no need to go outside this area for qualified applicants," said Karteron. "We got qualified applicants."

Karteron also explained that the model used in the hiring process was developed for hiring for the Marriott Hotel in Brooklyn last year.

"It was customized to meet the needs of this community and this employer," she said.

Of the initial vacancies to be filled only nine positions, according to Karteron, required testing.

To give all the candidates an equal chance to pass, test preparation was given on site at the One Stop Career Center by two York College Professors.

The next step was resume review and an initial interview to select candidates for the second interview.

Port Authority through Bombardier, partnered with HRA, New York City Department of Employment (DOE) and New York State Department of Labor (DOL) to do the hiring using the One Stop Career Center (its inaugural project). But all is not lost for applicants who may not get a job right away. According to Karteron, those names will remain in the system for review when "turnovers" occur.

According to Clyde Hayes, general manager of Bombardier, the company responsible for building the AirTrain cars, his company will operate and maintain the "Light Rail System."

There are 13 job categories for that operation and 15 candidates will be hired for those jobs.

"Management types can be replaced," said Hayes. "But not the bottom level because they [will have been] trained for those positions."

"Those positions" of course, will include sitting in an operation center and operate the actual AirTrain remotely.

According to Hayes, the AirTrain will not have a motorman per se, but instead, be operated by the click of a mouse button from the central location.

Operators from a control center, will direct every move and every stop of the 60-foot long two-car train weighing 53 thousand pounds and capable of going at a speed of 50 to 60 miles per hour.

The train itself, which is being designed with only 26 seats, but will have room for straphangers, carts and luggage, will have only one minute between stations, according to Hayes.

Hayes who began his career with Bombardier as a bus driver in Chicago 41 years ago, explained the train is a "moving block," system, which means it is far more flexible than other trains.

The remote operator will click on each location for the train to go and it will instantly heed the command.

According to Hayes the first 36 candidates will start working by mid-February after giving their requisite two-week notice to current employers.

Starting salaries will vary from $30,000 to $45,000 per year.

According to Greg Murphy, a liason for Slattery Skanska Inc. a member of the Air Rail Transit Consortium, there are a total 118 jobs to be filled.

They are hiring one accountant, one buyer, two control operators, 32 customer service reps, six electricians, four electronic technicians etc.

"We had hoped that all the jobs would come from the Southeast Queens area," said Murphy. "And it seems to be working out that way."

According to Janet Barkan, executive director of Jamaica Business Development Center, it may take a bit more development in the downtown Jamaica area to attract the kind of business an AirTrain stop could bring.

"The only way I see this is with a domino effect," said Barkan.

"You want people to feel this is more than a transfer point, otherwise the effect will be negligible. It will require stores staying open later and more activities in the area," she said.

Barkan also cites the ongoing discussions about a possible hotel and convention center in Jamaica as good tie-ins to the AirTrain benefiting the community.

"With a hotel and convention center we’d have people staying longer in the area," she said.

For Carlisle Towery, president of Greater Jamaica Development Corporation (GJDC) the AirTrain project will have a positive effect on the Jamaica economy over the long haul.

"I believe we can attract a hotel to Jamaica," he said. "The market is there and I believe AirTrain will stimulate that in a reasonable time.

According to Towery, AirTrain will have a terminal building on Sutphin Boulevard and it is being built in a manner that will accommodate the construction of a hotel on top it.

"The Port Authority has designed the building to accommodate that," he said. "We also want to get some open space to make it attractive. We want to have a whole range of things to make it nice," he said.

"We want to make Jamaica not just a place to go through but a place to go to," he said. "We expect another 13 million people to use the airport by 2010."

But Russell is predicting that with Jamaica being the "transportation hub" that it is, the AirTrain will be an integrated part of the community. He also implied that there would be additional jobs as a result of the project plus ongoing development.

"The Metro Tech project in Brooklyn, which has direct access to the airport, led to economic development there," he said, predicting the same for Jamaica.

For James Heyliger, president of the Association of Minority Enterprises of New York, Inc. (AMENY) which advocates for contract for its mostly contractor members, the project has been very, very good to Southeast Queens.