Schumer Calls for Congress Oversight of Port Authority

Sen. Charles Schumer on Monday proposed an Act of Congress to reform the scandal-ridden Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, saying its secretive, politicized management fosters “outright tribalism.”

The New York Democrat said the Port Authority, which operates bridges, tunnels, seaports and airports and owns the World Trade Center site, has become a “cookie jar” for politicians who have forgotten its core public mission: to improve transportation infrastructure that fuels economic growth in both states.

“I believe with a largely forgotten Act of Congress in 1921, we have a way to achieve just that,” said Schumer, referring to the legislative compact that created the agency.

He spoke at the Times Square headquarters of media company Viacom, where the audience included current and former Port Authority board members.

Schumer proposed a seven-point retooling of the agency. He wants an executive director elected by the board, not appointed by a governor, instead of the currently shared bistate leadership with the executive director splitting control with the agency chairman and the deputy executive director.

“You get an incoherent, tripartite management structure: one that stifles vision and long-term thinking and defies leadership,” Schumer said. “It fosters poor management at best; at worst, outright tribalism.”

He also proposed that commissioners be picked for their expertise, not their political links. And he said more transparency in finances and contracts could reduce conflicts of interest, with an at least annual review subject to public comment.

Now, billions of dollars are spent on projects that generate no revenue, Schumer said. He cited $1 billion worth of repairs on the Pulaski Skyway, a four-lane bridge, at the direction of Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and financed with Port Authority money.

“The Pulaski Skyway is neither owned nor in any way operated by the Port Authority,” Schumer said. “It is a state road system, and its maintenance and redevelopment should be funded as such.”

Schumer also blasted Christie for putting an end to a proposed trans-Hudson River tunnel that would have expanded badly needed train track capacity between New York and New Jersey. Christie killed the $8.7 billion ARC project, saying he feared his state would bear overrun costs.

Schumer said the scandal involving lane closures on the George Washington Bridge, ordered by a Christie-appointed Port Authority official, is a symptom of a dysfunctional agency with little independent oversight that recently adopted a $27.6 billion, 10-year capital plan. The senator noted that $1 billion in the plan is for projects “that won’t net the Port Authority a penny.”

Any big changes in the Port Authority’s structure or operations would have to be added to the congressionally drafted compact that created the agency.

This article appeared in print on page 15 of the April 30th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.