The man who helped speed redevelopment of the World Trade Center site will keep his job as executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey under Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, according to several people familiar with the decision. Word that Christopher Ward will remain executive director comes as the New Jersey Senate Judiciary...
File photos of N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (AP Photo/Mike Groll) and N.J. Gov. Chris Christie (Frank H. Conlon/For The Star-Ledger)The man who helped speed redevelopment of the World Trade Center site will keep his job as executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey under Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, according to several people familiar with the decision.
Word that Christopher Ward will remain executive director comes as the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote today on David Samson, Gov. Chris Christie’s choice for chairman of agency.
"Sometimes government looks like it’s standing still and sometimes it looks like it’s going 80 miles an hour," the committee chairman, Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union County), said of Samson’s hearing and news of Ward’s retention. Scutari said he did not foresee any obstacles to Samson’s approval.
But, he added, "That’s why we have hearings and ask questions."
Under a long-standing tradition, the governor of New Jersey names the chairman of the bi-state agency, while New York’s governor names the executive director. The Port Authority has a budget of $7.2 billion and 6,777 employees, and operates the region’s three major airports and trans-Hudson bridges, tunnels and PATH trains.
Officially, the executive director and chairman posts are decided by a vote of the board of commissioners. But under a long-standing tradition, the governor of New Jersey names the chairman, while New York’s governor names the executive director. The current chairman, Anthony Coscia, is expected to retain his seat on the board. The agency’ next meeting is Feb. 3, at its Manhattan headquarters near Union Square.
Ward, a Princeton native and Harvard Divinity School graduate who once served as New York City’s environmental commissioner, was named to the executive director’s post in May 2008, by Cuomo’s predecessor, David Paterson. His retention as executive director was first reported in Crain’s New York Business.
Ward’s retention was first reported today in Crain’s New York Business.
Ward is credited with finalizing a complex development deal with the trade center’s leaseholder Larry Silverstein, and putting redevelopment of the site back on track after years of power struggles and delays. Unfinished elements of the $11 billion redevelopment project include the 1,776-foot One World Trade Center, formerly known as the Freedom Tower, architect Santiago Calatrava’s soaring PATH and subway hub, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, which the Port Authority has vowed to complete by the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks this September.
There had been speculation that Cuomo would install his own lieutenant in the $304,000 job. The agency’s deputy executive director, Bill Baroni, is a Christie appointee and longtime Republican political ally. Christie’s and Cuomo’s offices declined to comment.
Veronica Vanterpool, associate director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a transit advocacy group, said the group had urged Cuomo to retain Ward, who provides continuity at a time of several ongoing projects, when unspent funds for the cancelled ARC trans-Hudson commuter rail tunnel must be reallocated.
"We need leaders who understand the challenges right now and we need seamless transitions," she said. "We don’t really have to time to start fresh." The executive director is the highest ranking appointee at the Port Authority for New York’s governor, and there was speculation that Cuomo, who was sworn in effective Jan. 1, would install his own executive director. Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni is a Christie appointee who has acted as the New Jersey governor’s representative at the agency and the point man for more New Jersey-oriented projects.
Christie’s and Cuomo’s offices declined to comment. But Veronica Vanterpool, associate director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a regional mass transit advocacy group, welcomed word of Ward’s retention. Vanterpool said Tri-State had written to Cuomo asking him to retain Ward and Metropolitan Transit Authority Chief Executive Jay Walder.
Among other transit-friendly policies, Vanterpool said Ward has advocated for enhanced commuter bus service between New York and New Jersey. She said Ward also provides continuity at a time when several large projects are pending, and resources for the cancelled ARC trans-Hudson commuter rail tunnel must be reallocated.
"We think it’s particularly important for Chris Ward to broker negotiations between Gov. Christie and Gov. Cuomo over what to do with $1.8 billion that would have gone to ARC," Vanterpool said. "We need leaders who understand the challenges right now and we need seamless transitions. We don’t really have to time to start fresh."
Previous coverage:
• New York Gov. Cuomo reappoints heads of MTA, Port Authority
• N.J. Senate expected to vote on Christie's nominee for Port Authority chairman
• Gov. Christie plans to use ARC tunnel money to pay for repairs to N.J. bridges, roads
• Gov. Christie lays out 5-year plan to fund N.J. road, bridge projects
• U.S. relaxes demand on $271M ARC tunnel funds after N.J. Gov. Christie canceled project
• Bayonne Bridge roadway to be raised 64 feet to accommodate larger ships
• Elimination of 200 Port Authority positions will leave agency with smallest staff in 40 years
• Christie rips N.Y. Gov. Paterson's suggestion to split cost of Tappan Zee bridge renovation
• N.J. Gov. Christie to cancel Hudson River tunnel, blaming feds' refusal to increase funding