New Jersey Transportation Chief to Resign
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Friday said his transportation commissioner Jamie Fox would step down by the end of the month to return to the private sector after only a year in the position. Fox was previously a lobbyist with airline company United Continental Holdings Inc. before Christie tapped him to be transportation czar in September 2014. Federal authorities are conducting a criminal probe into the previous relationship between United, during Fox's tenure there, and David Samson, former chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Federal investigators are probing flights that United added between Newark, New Jersey, and Columbia, South Carolina, near Samson's vacation home.
Port Should Unload Brooklyn Marine Terminals
A new report from the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) suggests that the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey sell its two marine terminals in Brooklyn, both of which are hemorrhaging money, to a housing developer in order to raise cash. The Red Hook Container Terminal and the Brooklyn-Port Authority Marine Terminal have a long history of running deficits and no prospect of making money in the near future. Greater efficiencies must, therefore, be explored, according to CBC president Carol Kellerman. Annual deficits at the marine terminals are expected to hit $107 million in 15 years, the report said. The Brooklyn-Port Authority Marine Terminal in Cobble Hill lost more than $205,000 per acre last year. The Red Hook Container Terminal lost nearly $185,000 per acre.
Christie, Cuomo Veto Proposed Port Agency Overhaul
The governors of New York and New Jersey vetoed sweeping legislation passed by lawmakers in both states intended to reform the embattled bi-state Port Authority, according to a joint statement released on Saturday. The legislative reforms to the transportation agency were passed as federal prosecutors investigate "Bridgegate," in which traffic lanes approaching the George Washington Bridge across the Hudson River were shut for several days in September 2013 in what many suspect was a politically motivated move by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's administration. Christie, chairman of the Republican Governor's Association and a potential presidential candidate…
Port Authority Lists Subpoenas over Bridge Closure
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has disclosed a list of federal and state subpoenas it has received linked to investigations into a scandal over deliberate lane closures at a major transportation route. The list, the most extensive disclosure of the matter so far by the usually reticent authority, was part of a bond offering document for a $834 million bond sale later this month. It includes flagship projects such as the $1.5 billion Goethals Bridge replacement and the World Trade Center. "The Port Authority has received and is responding to several grand jury subpoenas for the production of records," the authority said in the Aug. 6 document. The list of subpoenas covers a page of the document.
New Marine Terminal for Delaware River
Holt Logistics Corp. says it has entered into a partnership with the South Jersey Port Corporation (SJPC) for the construction of a new, state-of-the-art marine terminal in Paulsboro, New Jersey. The announcement was made at a press conference attended by Governor Chris Christie, Senate President Stephen Sweeney, the Board and staff of the South Jersey Port Corporation, various Gloucester County executives and representatives of Holt Logistics at the future site of the facility, located at the former Paulsboro BP refinery on the banks of the Delaware River in Paulsboro, Gloucester County. The planned 190-acre facility will be the first new multi-purpose marine terminal to be constructed on the Delaware River in over 30 years…
Gov. Christie Selects Port Authority Chair
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said on Tuesday he has tapped former state Attorney General John Degnan to chair the board of the embattled Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The board's former chairman, David Samson, resigned in March amid reports that federal prosecutors in Manhattan were looking into a potential conflict of interest between Samson's role as chairman and his private law firm. The bi-state authority has come under intense scrutiny since the so-called Bridgegate scandal erupted early this year…
U.S. seeks records on NY-NJ Port Authority chairman
(Reuters) - Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have subpoenaed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for records regarding the business dealings of the agency's chairman, David Samson, according to media reports on Monday. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is interested in particular in any potential conflicts of interest between Samson's role as chairman and his private law firm, Wolff & Samson, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing anonymous sources. Pressure has been building on Samson, an appointee of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, since his name surfaced in documents related to September lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, which caused gridlock over four days as an alleged act of political retribution against a New Jersey mayor.
Gov. Christie Signs Bill to End Cargo Fees
Yesterday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed S2747/A4170 into law. This legislation, which received unanimous bipartisan support from the entire legislature, will eliminate the Port of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ) cargo facility fee. In 2011, the PANYNJ became the only port agency in the country to impose a cargo facility charge on all containers, including empties. The fee charged is $4.95 for 20-foot containers, $9.90 for 40-containers, and $1.11 per unit for vehicle cargo. The fee is costing Maersk Line alone $3.5 million on an annual basis.
Plan to Build NY-NJ LNG Terminal Gets Cold Reception
A proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal off the coasts of New York and New Jersey received a largely negative response at a public hearing in a suburban New York community still struggling to recover from the effects of Superstorm Sandy, reports Bloomberg. Several hundred people crowded into a hotel conference room in Long Beach, just steps from where work continues to replace a 2-mile-long boardwalk destroyed in last year's storm. Most of those who spoke said they opposed the proposal on environmental, security and economic concerns. Liberty Natural Gas has applied to federal authorities for permission to build the port in the ocean 17 miles off Jones Beach, N.Y., and 24 miles off Long Branch, N.J. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a similar proposal in 2011.
