Originally Posted by
fwoomp
Some places play classical music not because they think it makes the place seem more upscale, but because they think it drives away panhandlers and miscreants. (It didn't work at the bus terminal in my city, though, so they stopped.) You don't get as many street kids hanging around at airports as you do at the Port Authority bus terminal, I imagine.
The PABT has easy access to foot traffic; few airports are easy to walk into from the street; in addition most "interesting" items in airports are after security, so you must be flying to get to them.