FAA lists NY airport control towers that could close or be limited by federal budget cuts

ALBANY, N.Y. - Federal authorities have released a list of New York airports where control towers may be closed or lose overnight operations because of automatic federal budget cuts.

The Federal Aviation Administration has said they'll take comments from airport executives and others about the proposal until March 13 and issue a final list on March 18. Air traffic controller and TSA worker furloughs are expected to begin about April 7, unless negotiations in Washington head off the cuts.

The facilities that could close are Binghamton Tower in Johnson City, Francis S. Gabreski in Westhampton Beach, Niagara Falls International, Ithaca Tomkins Regional, Dutchess County in Wappingers Falls and Griffiss International in Rome. There are 238 airports across the country on the tower closing list.

Among 72 towers that could lose midnight shifts are Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse.