Cooper Hewitt says...
Long Island MacArthur Airport (LIMA) was founded by Islip, Long Island, NY’s town board in 1943 in response to World-War-II defense needs. It originally featured three runways and facilitated passenger and cargo transportation. It became an economic lifeblood in Islip, bringing industry to the area. In the 1950s, industrial and interior design Donald Deskey invested in the land surrounding the airport and in ’56 was elected chairman of the board of Airport Industries, Inc.[1] Deskey sold his acreage in 1974 [2], but during his involvement with the project developed through Donald Deskey Associates a number of speculative designs for passenger and cargo monorails as well as a frozen food shipment and distribution system with LIMA in mind as a test case. In 2011, the Federal Aviation Administration designated LIMA an Official Metro Airport, grouping it with Newark, LaGuardia, and JFK as a New-York air transit hub.
[1] See Deskey research files, Box 11: “Executive Changes,” New York Times, June 1, 1956.
[2] “News of the Realty Trade: $3-Million Westchester Lease Signed,” New York Times, February 17, 1974.
