The O’Toole Chronicles: At the Port Authority, we’re just getting started

When you arrive at a new place and you want to understand and appreciate its culture, you look for the long-time residents, the people who speak a language that is both new and familiar. At the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where I arrived six years ago as its new Chairman, those were the employees who spoke with fondness of something called “Mother PONYA,” a reference to the initials of the agency’s original name: The Port of New York Authority.

The name change occurred in 1972 and the fact that many long-time Port Authority employees still recall their mentors at the agency talking of the Port Authority as a place that was family, as much as it was a place where everything was possible, speaks volumes about this 102-year-old agency.

Having spent a lifetime in public service in New Jersey, serving in leadership on the local and state levels, I thought I knew something about the Port Authority when I was asked to serve as its Chairman. But like most people on either side of the Hudson – a river that connects and divides the populaces of two great states – I knew only parts of what the Port Authority encompassed.

The busiest (and to Jersey commuters infamous) bus terminal in the world comes quickly to mind. PATH. Newark Liberty International Airport. The George Washington Bridge. I could have made a list in August 2017, and I guarantee I would have left out so much.

For starters, if I was asked to name the great legacy assets of the Port Authority, I would have omitted its richest one: the Port Authority’s 8,000-person workforce, the most extraordinary people working in public service I have ever met. They are the steel, the stone, and as tragedies have tested the agency for more than a century, the lifeblood that makes the impossible possible.

For example, engineering the longest suspension bridge of its time, creating the entrepreneurial environment that gave birth to the container shipping industry in New Jersey that would revolutionize global shipping, and building the two tallest towers in the United States and then rebuilding the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Six years ago, I met for the first time Rick Cotton, who would become my invaluable partner at the agency, both of us newly appointed by the governors of our respective states. While Rick Cotton is without question the most astute, knowledgeable, and conscientious public leader I have known in those early days we did not collectively understand the enormous breadth of the Port Authority.

We did understand the then-recent history of the agency that brought us together for that first meeting. We understood that our first and foremost task was to restore the reputational integrity of the Port Authority and to keep the agency laser-focused on its core mission of moving the region. We also understood at that first meeting that whatever challenges we would face, be them fiscal, political, or beyond anyone’s control, we would move forward, always forward, and we would move forward as one.

We did not foresee a global pandemic and the stresses that would put on the structures of all transportation agencies across the globe. Nor did we foresee the societal fractures that would spread in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the need for public institutions to take strong, decisive actions against systemic racism. But Rick Cotton and I were fortunate that the Port Authority was engineered by its founders to withstand stresses, to build smarter and stronger, literally, and figuratively.

We say at the Port Authority that “everything rides on integrity.” It does. But if you allow me a railroad metaphor, the ballast that supports the rails of integrity are diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Six years ago, I also made a pledge to my former colleagues in the State House when I was confirmed as a commissioner: I would act in a transparent manner, that I would report back to them each year – which I have – and I would work 24/7 to support the mission of the Port Authority.

I have been aided by the strong leadership of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy who understands that the Port Authority through its redevelopment of Newark Liberty International Airport, investments in PATH, and at our seaports, can create economic opportunities in the cities where these facilities are sited and where PATH and a future new AirTrain Newark connect New Jerseyans to jobs.

It is of equal importance to note the immense support from my former Senate colleague, Senate President Nicholas Scutari who has been an invaluable ally, and equally so have State Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, Senator and Judiciary Chair Brian Stack, along with my former colleagues and current State Senators and Assembly members and countless other state and local leaders in New Jersey.

Coming to this role, I did understand many of the needs of New Jerseyans, but I had to learn the needs of New Yorkers, as well. The Port Authority is only at its best when it serves both the states of New York and New Jersey without bias toward either, but with a resolve to live up to the bi-state Compact that gave it life on April 30, 1921.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, like Governor Murphy, sees the value in this bi-state alliance. Her leadership, and the support of New York elected officials and community stakeholders, along with that of Governor Murphy and New Jersey elected officials and community stakeholders is enabling the Port Authority to simultaneously remake three major airports while it plans and designs a much-needed new Midtown Bus Terminal.

My colleagues on the Board of Commissioners continue to educate me on the needs of the region and today, these commissioners serve as models of what public servants should be. Vice Chairman Jeffrey Lynford whose keen focus on fiscal responsibility and understanding of the historical context in which the agency operates has become my right hand. And I have been privileged to work with dedicated commissioners from New York and New Jersey.

Many of New Jersey’s most intelligent, experienced and hardworking individuals from across the public and private sectors have served alongside me and their sage counsel and steadfast support for the region has helped guide the agency and the Board through challenging moments. The Port Authority would not be where we are today without the extraordinary service of New Jersey Commissioners Kevin McCabe, Michelle Richardson, Chris Bollwage, George Helmy and Joseph Kelley and former Board colleagues Raymond Pocino, Richard Bagger, David Steiner, Robert Menendez and Dana Martinotti.

The same is true for my current and former Board colleagues from across the Hudson, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Lynford, Steven Cohen, Leecia Eve, Winston Fisher, Daniel Horwitz, Gary LaBarbera, Rossana Rosado and the late George McDonald.

I often say, “the best is yet to come.” And I mean it.

Just look what we have done these past six years to understand that the past is prologue. Across the Port District, investments have been made. Historic investments.

Airports – At Newark Liberty International Airport where the Port Authority has made its largest investment in New Jersey in the agency’s history, the stunning, new, 1 million-square-foot, $2.7 billion, new Terminal A with a new connected public parking/car rental facility has opened to rave reviews. The agency announced in March of this year the selection of three firms to advance to the next phase of a multi-phase procurement process to replace the existing AirTrain Newark system with a new 2.5-mile automated train system. And the Port Authority has awarded a contract to one of the world’s top aviation planning and design firms and a world-class architecture firm to develop a Newark Vision Plan for the airport that will include plans for a new Terminal B, among other improvements.

A Whole New LGA, the first new airport in the nation in 25 years, is completed with a new Terminal B and Delta’s new Terminal C both open, in addition to the completion of a new roadway network to support the airport.

At JFK, the historic $19 billion JFK Vision Plan has been launched. Just last year, the expanded Terminal 8 was completed, and ground was broken on the $9.5 billion development of a state-of-the-art New Terminal One that will anchor the airport’s south side. This year, ground was broken on the $4.2 billion new Terminal 6.

Midtown Bus Terminal – Working closely with Port Authority Commissioners and Port Authority staff, consensus among political, business, and community leaders and community stakeholders was reached on a new, world-class, 21st century Midtown Bus Terminal. The new bus terminal will not only improve bus service and the commuter experience while reducing congestion around the terminal, but also will support the Port Authority’s commitment to sustainability with electric charging infrastructure and the creation of much-needed new green space around the bus terminal. In 2017, this was a far-reaching goal. Today, it is a plan in motion. Last year, the agency announced the selection of the world-renowned architectural firm Foster + Partners and the design firm A. Epstein and Sons International Inc., to provide architectural design services throughout the design phase and the environmental review of the proposed project.

PATH – A new, world-class Harrison Path Station has been built. Improving daily service and the system’s resiliency against severe weather have also been challenges met as PATH continues to complete Superstorm Sandy Resiliency Projects, including seawall construction at the Harrison rail yard.  At the same time, the agency is advancing the $1 billion PATH Improvement Plan. A centerpiece of that plan is 9-car PATH service between Newark and the World Trade Center during peak hours. That became reality this year. Additionally, the first of 72 new PATH rail cars were delivered and put into service this year.  When completed, capacity on the system’s busiest Newark-World Trade Center line will increase by an extraordinary 40 percent.

Bridges – A new, $1.5 billion Goethals Bridge opened. The Bayonne Bridge’s roadway was raised 64 feet, following additional dredging around the port, to allow the movement of ultra-large container ships into the region’s seaports. The nearly 100-year-old George Washington Bridge is undergoing a massive $2 billion restoration that includes the replacement of all the bridge’s suspender ropes ensuring the GWB will have another century of service to the region. And as of last year, all the agency’s crossings have transitioned to all-electronic tolling.

World Trade Center – The buildout of the World Trade Center campus is nearly complete. The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine was consecrated in 2022 and The Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center is scheduled to open in September of this year.

Seaports – While seaports on the West Coast and south of our region greatly struggled to keep their operations moving efficiently during the height of the global pandemic, Port Authority seaports excelled because of investments in both rail connectivity and in collaborative partnerships between the Port Authority and terminal operators. In 2022, the Port of New York and New Jersey handled its highest annual cargo volume in Port history, setting a new monthly volume record nearly every month of 2022, and in August 2022, surpassed the Port of Los Angeles as the busiest seaport in the United States.

More accomplishments are to come

These achievements are impressive, but they represent only a portion of what is being accomplished every day by the dedicated employees of the Port Authority – both civilian employees and members of the Port Authority Police Department. Supporting them are the leaders of the 23 unions representing the majority of Port Authority employees.

Now six years at the Port Authority, I have become like many of the employees I met early in my tenure, talking about the greatness of the Port Authority’s mission, its legacy, and its people. During the Covid crisis, I called up more than 1,100 employees to check on how they were doing, while also visiting agency facilities that remained open throughout the pandemic, keeping the vital supply chain of medicines, goods, fuel, and most precious, front-line workers moving across the region. Through those visits and calls, I came to fully understand where “Mother PONYA” came from – not the initials on now-historical letterhead. It came from the soul of an agency that represents the best of two great states.

After 102 years, the Port Authority’s best days are yet to come. It will continue to strive for excellence, and it will deliver excellence.

The best is yet to come. We are just getting started.

Kevin J. O’Toole is the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.