It’s been kicked around for years — since I was in diapers — and increasingly so in recent months. Now, it’s all but official: The remaining 93 years on the operational lease for Stewart International Airport is being purchased by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for $78.5 million, bringing the Orange County airport under New York City’s metropolitan aviation umbrella.

The avowed goal is to eventually put Stewart on equal footing with JFK, La Guardia, and Newark. In reality, an airport located 60 miles north of Manhattan is never going to be a viable passenger option for NYC destinations. Factor in the proximity to major highway arteries into New England and the Midwest, and the most logical prospect is for Stewart to take most of the cargo flights that now go to the Big Three. Passenger overflow will be a small part of the mix.

Cognizant of this, the upstate natives are already restless over all the noise and congestion a major air cargo hub woudl bring. Not that it’ll derail this process.

It’ll be odd to see the changes, now that Stewart’s promise is finally coming to fruition. The house I grew up in lay indirectly in the main flightpaths approaching the airport; many’s the night I heard planes roar outside my bedroom window. I can’t imagine that kind of clatter increased tenfold or more. On the plus side, it should lead to increased property values.