PORT
AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY
BEING
DRAGGED THROUGH THE MUD BY POLITICAL SCANDALS
THE GEORGE
WASHINGTON BRIDGE AS SEEN FROM
UPPER
MANHATTAN
TAGS:
PORT AUTHORITY NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY, PA FACILITIES,
SURFACE
AND RAIL TRANSPORT, HUDSON RIVER CROSSINGS,
FREIGHT
TERMINAL, DOCKS, PIERS, PA POLICE DEPARTMENT,
PAPD
9-11-2001, LaGUARDIA, JFK AND NEWARK/LIBERTY AIRPORTS,
PATH
TRAINS, CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, WTC, NYC HARBOR
(Saturday February 8, 2014 JFK
Airport, Queens, NYC) Since its
formation in 1921 the Port Authority of New York / New Jersey (PANYNJ) has been
a highly regarded and much emulated bi-state alliance. When the original charter was crafted, those
involved in that process could never have envisioned what it would become. The Port Authority as locals refer to it
daily fulfills a mission that has only grown in scale and scope in the post
9-11-2001 era. Much of this regions
critical infrastructure from the three local airports to Hudson River
crossings, road and rail transportation as well as properties on both sides of
the Hudson they own and operate, the Port Authority is a vital element assuring
the safety and security of their facilities while moving hundreds of thousands
of New Yorkers and commuters from the NYC Metropolitan Area.
Until very recently the PANYNJ
was seen as a non-political Agency left alone to carry out their mission. Recent headlines regarding the
alleged malfeasance of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his high ranking
appointees to the PA have begun to tarnish an impressive reputation of
efficiency, effectiveness and competence.
Some of the most heavily travelled bridges and busy airports are often
stricken by unforeseen events such as heavy surface congestion, power
interruptions and other delay inducing events and those affected by such delays
and inconvenience will complain to no end.
However, these very same people are dependent on the Port Authority and,
when the systems are functioning without any glitches are able to take the PA
for granted. Given the density of the
NYC Metro Area population, aging infrastructure in New Jersey and New York, the
PA keeps the region moving by the dedication and expertise of their rank and
file employees from their own Police Department to the legions of specialists
charged with insuring the whole interconnected regional network runs as
trouble-free as possible.
AN UNWITTING PAWN
One would be hard pressed to
find incidents of corruption, political wrangling or run of the mill chicanery
in the Port Authority. Actually the fact
that in its almost 90 year history it has remained among the brand of political
corruption, influence peddling, extortion and greed that has come to define the
political landscape of this region, is in itself remarkable. To see the PA now to have been used as a pawn
in the most amateurish spiteful manner as recent media reports suggest, is an
insult to all who work or have every worked for the PA. It appears that Governor Christie installed a
small cadre of loyalists into the hierarchy of the PA and used them to carry
out some sort of retribution against Mark Sokolich, the Mayor of Fort Lee NJ,
the host city of the western terminus of the George Washington Bridge. If these allegations are proven to be true
everyone involved should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
AIR FORCE
ONE AT A FAMILIAR DESTINATION – NEW YORK CITY
LANDMARKS AND ICONS
Some of this region’s most
critical infrastructure and iconic sites fall under the control of the PA. From the majestic George Washington Bridge,
the Bayonne Bridge the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels, Outerbridge Crossing, The
PATH trains, as well as Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Airports, such locales
are almost as familiar to the millions who come to visit here annually as they
are to those of us who live and work here.
The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were built, owned and operated
by the PA under the vision of Austin
Tobin who ran the PA for almost 30 years.
There were political agendas to be addressed, no politicians’ egos to
stroke; Director Tobin saw the value in each and every project he presided over
not just as the head of the PA but also as an accomplished engineer. It was during his long, successful tenure
that the Port Authority was planted in the fertile soil that allowed it to
flourish unencumbered by petty politics.
Some may argue this point as an inaccurate portrayal of the man Tobin
and his Agency, the PA but extensive research into the PA yields no stories,
rumors, innuendos or suppositions that credibly contest this point.
PORT AUTHORITY BY THE NUMBERS
Operating two bus terminals,
one near the upper tip of Manhattan on 178th Street, the other on 8th
Avenue and 42nd Street, these two locations transport upwards of 70
million people annually. Every work day
the PATH Trains move over 29,000communters from Hoboken and Jersey City to the
west side of Manhattan. Fleets of
ferries that had long plied the Hudson but died away until the late 1990’s once
again are plentiful from New Jersey and Brooklyn into lower Manhattan. Between JFK, LaGuardia and Newark/Liberty
airports over 60 million travelers pass through these PA operated hubs.
Living in the NYC Metro Area
sometimes it is easy to forget that NYC became what it is today due to geography. From Colonial days the value of NYC as a
seaport, as a major deep water maritime harbor capable of handling heavy volume
of immigrants and freight, made our waterfront the premier shipping destination
between the fledgling United States and the rest of the world. After the introduction of containerized
freight in the late seventies many saw the days of New York’s waterfront as
over. But, ever adaptable to change the
PA cast their gaze and attention to the rapidly increasing freight brought to
dock at the Port
Elizabeth/Port Newark complex. Today
that complex is one of the busiest in the country. The Port Authority is also responsible for
the safety and security of the piers in Red Hook Brooklyn and adjacent docks.
One of the more obscure but important
numbers, a figure that illustrates the enormous domain of which the PA is
responsible is that the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) is the 26th
largest Police Force in the United States. Think about that for a moment. Hundreds of cities and urban centers have
smaller Police Forces than does the Port Authority. Given that the PAPD does
not operate within the well-defined borders of a jurisdiction, this fact is
impressive. The PAPD are, in a sense,
far flung being that they are deployed at facilities all across the NYC Metro
Area. Their tasks have only gotten more
difficult since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. On that day the PAPD lost 37 of her Members
of Service (MOS), the single most lethal day in their history is another sad
chapter in the stories of courage, duty and sacrifice exhibited so valiantly by
all the Agencies involved as First Responders.
The initial claim at the beginning
of Governor Christie’s now scandal ridden administration was a mysteriously
authorized land closure of designated roads leading from Fort Lee onto the
George Washington Bridge (GWB).The GWB
is the most heavily travelled bridge in the United States and is the only link
directly from Interstate 80 and 95 onto the Cross Bronx Expressway which links
to the network of highways going north to New England. Sure, commuters in this area are more than
familiar with traffic congestion and jams but the four days of lane closures in
question affected far more than frustrated motorists; school buses and
emergency response Agencies had their movements and response time impacted by
the enormous gridlock that had, in effect, made Fort Lee a parking lot. If for no other reason than this the various
legislative committees and federal prosecutor investigated this sloppy episode
need to find answers. If Chris Christie
did have ANYTHING to do with the lane closures he should either resign a la
Sarah Palin and take a job with the other barking seals at FOX News or gut it
out and wait to be impeached. Either way
his once notable political potential is gone; the luster of a “straight-shooting”
Republican Governor from a Democratic state has been sullied beyond repair.
EVERY OTHER DAY
Christie’s most highly placed
appointees at the PA as well as his Chief odd Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, Lt.
Governor and about 20 others within Christie’s innermost circle have been subpoenaed,
resigned orr have been unceremoniously fired.
At some point the truth should emerge given the intense focus on the
local and national media. However, no
matter when and where fault is laid, regardless of which political hack or “no
show” appointee is left holding the bag; the one truth that ought to be
recognized is that this entire sordid tale is not about the PA. It is about politicians and pettiness, about
hubris, power and corruption. It should
not in any way reflect on the thousands of hard working men and women of the
Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.
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Brooding Cynyx 2014 © All Rights Reserved
