If someone on August 3, 2017, asked me to describe how it felt to be elected the 20th Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, I would have said, “humbling and a little surreal.”
Both I and Executive Director Rick Coton joined the Port Authority at the same time, which, in of it itself, was unique. But the moment was unique. The Port Authority, once a model of integrity and innovation, was struggling to move past scandal and division.
Litle did I know then that my partner, Rick Coton, was the perfect individual to take the reins of the day to-day running of the Port Authority. A tireless worker, a brilliant strategic thinker, a person of impeccable integrity, Rick Coton could, would, and still navigates through the “noise” that is inevitable in a bistate agency of the size, scope, and mission of the Port Authority.
Both Rick and I say, “everything rides on integrity,” but you cannot ride if the rails no longer align. Rick Coton set the rails straight, so that today, the Port Authority is once again a model of integrity and innovation.
Together, we rolled up our sleeves and committed ourselves to creating a culture where employees not only felt valued, but were valued, where everyone’s opinions mattered, where there were opportunities for every employee to be heard by us through face-to-face forums and informal gatherings at facilities and worksites, and where the mission of the great Port Authority – to move the region – was always paramount.
The other critical component needed for success was a Board of Commissioners that worked as a team, not limited by political affiliations or state boundaries. In short, the kind of board the founders of the Port Authority envisioned when this bi-state agency was conceived. That comity, that commitment to the region as a whole, and that belief that even in challenging times a large government agency can deliver to the region while being a place where every employee is treated with respect and dignity seemed like a pipe dream 7 years ago.
Today, it is not a dream.
Today, it is a reality shaped and supported by my partner on the Board of Commissioners, Port Authority Vice-Chairman Jeffrey H. Lynford; and by 10 other commissioners who have raised the bar for every commissioner who will follow them into Port Authority service; Commissioners J. Christian Bollwage, Steven M. Cohen, Leecia Eve, Winston C. Fisher, George Helmy, Joseph Kelley, Gary LaBarbera, Kevin P. McCabe, Rossana Rosado, and Michelle E. Richardson.
They, like Rick Coton, have provided the needed support and vision to move the Port Authority into the future.
So, when earlier this month, I was elected for the 7th time as Chairman of the Port Authority, I was so humbled. But I also felt proud.
Humbled, that I have been given the opportunity of a lifetime to be a part of the Port Authority’s storied history, working with Rick Coton and the Commissioners of the Port Authority.
Proud, to have spent these past years seeing firsthand how amazing, extraordinary, and committed are the 8,000 individuals who form the greatest workforce anywhere. Let me repeat that: The greatest workforce anywhere!
Many of you know the film, “Field of Dreams,” and the inspirational speech the character played by James Earl Jones delivers about the power of baseball; how baseball is the common thread that has moved our society. The Port Authority workforce is like that. For more than 100 years, despite unimaginable tragedies, despite periods of scandal and lost focus at the top, the Port Authority workforce continued to move the region forward.
Look at the rebuilt World Trade Center campus with all the engineering challenges to meet, with the politics to navigate, and with the unthinkable pain of the loss of so many colleagues, and you see not just marble and steel: You see the power of the Port Authority’s 8,000 employees. They drove the work to completion. They inspired so many others. They still do.
Yes, the greatest workforce anywhere!
At its core, the Port Authority is both a family and a team. Early in my tenure at the Agency, I learned the most important thing I could do, was clear the path, provide the needed resources, and then look at the jaw-dropping results.
A new LaGuardia Airport. A new Terminal A at Newark Liberty International. A completely new John F. Kennedy international advancing full speed ahead despite the economic challenges faced in the wake of the global pandemic. Historic investments in the Port of New York and New Jersey which is now firmly established as the second busiest seaport in the nation, surpassing the Port of Long Beach. Nine-car PATH service between Newark and the World Trade Center. The completed St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and NationalShrine and stunning Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center campus.
And then, earlier this month, the advancement of the plans to completely replace the aging Midtown Bus Terminal with a $10 billion, stunning, world-class transportion hub in Midtown Manhatan that will include a new 2.1 million-square-foot main bus terminal with an iconic atrium entrance on 41st Street and 8th Avenue, a separate storage and staging building, and new ramps leading directly into and out of the Lincoln Tunnel.
A $10 billion Port Authority investment! This is the largest agency investment in Port Authority history.
A decade ago, no one believed there could be a new LaGuardia, let alone it would be completed and JFK would be well on its way to becoming the worldclass aviation hub it was created to be. And, at Newark Liberty International, we’re just getting started. The widely praised new Terminal A is the beginning of a worldclass Newark Liberty International. It is timethat Newark Liberty, the first commercial airport in the nation, regains its luster.
A new AirTrain Newark is being designed. The existing Amtrak/NJ Transit station for the airport, once only a link for rail users, is being transformed into a muti-modal facility that will provide direct access to the people of Newark and Elizabeth to AirTrain, NJ Transit, and Amtrak, and with that, direct access to the airport and New York City.
And there’s still more to come: The Newark Vision Plan will guide the Port Authority’s planning for a new Terminal B, and for the integration of the airport and its economic engine into the fabric of the cities of Newark and Elizabeth.
None of this could be possible without the support of Governor Murphy of New Jersey and Governor Hochul of New York, without a Board of Commissioners committed to putting the Port Authority and its mission ahead of parochial interests, without public officials and community and business leaders willing to help advance monumental projects that will benefit generations to come, without the leadership of the 23 unions that represent the majority of Port Authority employees; and without the greatest workforce anywhere!
I remain truly humbled, proud, and honored to serve with all these extraordinary people. The best is yet to come.
Kevin J. O’Toole is the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
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