Port Authority proposed 50 percent toll hikes for bridges and tunnels Friday
Gov. Chris Christie at a bill signing event earlier this month. Some say Christie must have known about the Port Authority's proposed toll hikes before they were announced on Friday.TRENTON — Could Gov. Chris Christie, the iron-fisted leader who installed some of his closest confidantes to run the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, have been caught unawares by Friday’s announcement of a 50-percent toll hike at Port Authority bridges and tunnels that mainly serve his constituents?
Some say no: It’s political theater scripted to let Christie intervene on behalf of commuters and partially roll back the increase to a level more like the one he said he would be open to back in June.
"Realistically, it wouldn’t have been done without both governors having complete knowledge of what was in place," said Michael Francis, a former chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, appointed by Republican Gov. Christie Whitman. "So, they’re both going to attempt to look like heroes by cutting an outrageous increase in half."
In June, Christie said he would consider a $2 toll increase.
Some jaws dropped late Friday afternoon, when the Port Authority issued a press release proposing to raise tolls by at least $4 per round-trip crossing next month, plus an additional $3 for cash payers, followed by another $2 hike in 2014. The proposed new tolls for cars would range from $10 for E-ZPass users off peak, to $15 for cash-payers during rush-hour, rising to $12 and $17 in three years. The last increase was in 2008, from $6 to $8.
Truck rates would also go up, while one-way PATH fares would rise from $1.75 to $2.75, and from $54 to $89 for monthly passes.
The agency said it needs the additional $720 million and $290 million in annual revenues raised by the first and second phases of the hike to pay for $33 billion in capital projects over the next decade, including the World Trade Center’s redevelopment, raising the Bayonne Bridge and replacing the Goethals.
The announcement did not quote a single Port Authority official by name as defending the proposed increase. Typically, even routine press releases, include words from the agency’s top officials. Subsequent press releases from the agency’s press office listed supporters ranging from the 7,000 members of General Construction Laborers Local 472, to their bosses at the Building Trades Employers Association, to the Regional Plan Association, to the Partnership for New York City.
Shortly after the proposed hike was announced, Christie and his Democratic counterpart from New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, issued a joint statement expressing their "concern." On Saturday, officials from both of their administrations were quoted anonymously saying the proposal would not stand.
The governors each appoint six of the Port Authority’s 12 commissioners, and both have veto power over the board’s minutes. Christie has taken a particularly keen interest in the bi-state agency, and his appointees include Chairman David Samson, who also chaired Christie’s transition team, and its deputy executive director, longtime Christie political ally and former Republican state senator Bill Baroni.
So the notion that Christie would not have been well informed of Friday’s toll announcement ahead of time generated skepticism among political observers.
Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who chairs the Assembly Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as the state Democratic Party, said "You don’t have to be a PhD in gubernatorial politics," to decipher the plot.
"The people appointed to the Port Authority by Gov. Christie kept him in the dark?" Wisnieski said. "Is he calling for their resignation?"
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez yesterday said he also found the scenario hard to believe and called for an audit of the agency to look for spending cuts and non-toll revenues.
Christie addressed the issue himself yesterday, telling reporters he was first told of the proposal by Port Authority officials last week -- it was Wednesday, a spokesman later clarified.
"I think they were seeking my opinion, and my opinion was what I said back. I said you’re kidding, right?" Christie told reporters. "And they said no."
"I didn’t tell them anything else. Because you know, despite what somebody may think, I usually, usually, don’t go off from the hip most of the time."
"And so my view was I needed more information and I think that’s Governor Cuomo’s view as well."
Christie’s spokesman, Michael Drewniak, declined to comment, including saying why the governor did not simply ask the agency to hold off on the announcement. Cuomo’s office did not return calls.
An unusual schedule of six public hearings on the same day, Aug. 16, has been set up at Port Authority facilities in Newark, Fort Lee, Jersey City, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. The public also has its doubts.
Wu Jiang, 50, of Fair Lawn, was gassing up at a BP station on the Jersey City side of the Holland Tunnel Monday morning, before heading to one of his almost daily trips into Manhattan to fix an air conditioning unit at a fast food joint. Wu said the unfolding toll hike drama reminded him of the Communist Party propaganda he would hear leaving outside Hong Kong.
"I’m from mainland China," Wu said. "So I’m familiar with these political games."
Staff writers Ginger Gibson and Ryan Hutchins contributed to this report.