Reelected! Port Executive Director Rick Cotton, Board of Commissioners Chair Kevin O'Toole and Board Vice-Chair Jeffrey Lynford all unanimously voted in for another term.
Virtual Port Meeting February 10, 2022
AIRPORT V 4 OICE, FEBRUARY 2022
Remembrance, elections and revenues on agenda
The Port Authority of NYNJ
opened its first meeting of 2022
with a moment of science called
for by Chair Kevin O’Toole for the
6 victims, 4 Port Authority people,
from the World Trade Tower
under ground garage bombing
on February 26, 1993. Those
lives claimed were of Monica
Rodriguez Smith and her unborn
child, Stephen Knapp, William
Macko, Robert Kirkpatrick,
Wilfredo Mercado and John Di-
Giovanni. More than 1,000 people
were injured, including 88
firefighters, 35 police officers,
and an emergency medical services
worker.
Following the somber reminder,
results of the yearly election
for expiring terms of commissioners
was conducted and
Commissioner Rosado said that
she was proud to say that their
appointments were unanimous
with Chair O’Toole, Executive
Director Rick Cotton and Vice-
Chair Jeffrey Lynford all being reelected
to their respective posts.
The Board also unanimously reelected
all other incumbent officers
of the of the Port Authority,
which pursuant to the agency’s
by-laws include the roles of secretary,
general counsel, chief financial
officer, comptroller and
treasurer. The individuals who
were re-elected to those roles:
James E. McCoy, Secretary, Michael
E. Farbiarz, General Counsel,
Elizabeth M. McCarthy, Chief
Financial Office, Daniel G. Mc-
Carron, Comptroller, Cheryl A.
Yetka, Treasurer.
Both O’Toole and Cotton had
warm and persona appreciation
for the job each other and
the Commissioners have been
doing. With an emotional response,
O’Toole said he moved
by the unanimity and that it is astonishing
what an amazing job
the Port has done with its 8,000
employees under the management
of Rick Cotton for the last
5 years during these difficult covid
times. These people have
“Made an incredible place working
into next 100 years. Cotton
also thanked the Chairman for
his support and advice making
a pleasurable and productive
partnership.
Project overview &
highlights
Talking nuts and bolts Cotton
turned to the start of a new year
with the newly completed La-
Guardia Skybridge and completion
of the new Delta terminal at
LGA, and rapid construction at
the other airports with Terminal
A and new parking garage and
transportation center at Newark
and the redevelopment at JFK.
Turning to traffic and operational
volumes at the Port transportation
facilities Cotton said that
some of the volume was down
due to a combination of Omicron
and bad winter weather.
Cotton was proud to share
two highpoints; one is the completion
of the Skybridge bringing
the completion of the total makeover
of LGA by late Spring winning
the Versailles Award of Excellence,
and the Airport Service
Awards (ASQ) having risen to its
highest score of 4.05 out of 5 exceeding
4.0 for the first time as
a result of the emphasis on customer
experience and the world
class experience at the new Terminal
B.
“We aim to keep that trend
line going,” Cotton remarked.
Transportation
Volume
He reported that the Airports
were Down 38 % in January
compared to January precovid.
Attributing this drop due
to omicron but he expects this to
get better as the surge recedes,
which is evident by reports from
agency partners with much reduced
cases of covid.
Path ridership is still down
substantially with a slow rise
With Bridges and tunnelsdown
4.4% compared to pre-covid.
The Seaport is at record volumes.
Dec 2021 up more than
30% pre covid and continues to
trend upward. While he did not
mention airport cargo specifically,
this area is up substantially
with a combo of seaport good
trucked to JFK for shipment and
a surge in air deliveries.
Referring to omicron, the infection
cases rose quickly with
peaking in December. Since then
cases have dropped significantly
with more than 80% of Port employees
vaccinated and the
weekly testing for those not vaccinated
continues. Masks wearing
in all Port facilities continues
since the Federal masking protocols
are followed by the Port.
Lease Approval
The Board voted to approve
the Executive Director recommendation
to enter into a lease
agreement with T.R.T. International,
Ltd. (T.R.T.), to provide for
the continued letting of an estimated
9.96 acres at Port Newark,
composed of Building 250
and adjacent open area (collectively,
the Premises) for a term
of five years, commencing retroactively
on October 1, 2021 and
expiring on September 30, 2026.
The proposed lease terms represent
fair market value and are
supported by an independent
appraisal performed on behalf of
the Port Authority.
Public Speakers
The public is able to ask questions
through video messaging.
One “speaker’ complained about
the FAA tower in Newark and the
he never received a raise in 12
years and accused management
of violation of some laws during
the pandemic.
Other speakers objected to
the selection of Amazon to increase
business at Newark at
the expense of health concerns
to local residents. One speaker
asked that the Port engage more
with the local community.
Chairman O’Toole assured
the speaker that their concerns
were heard and they wouldb be
addressed.
Press questions
When asked if the Port was
still at a revenue loss as predicted
by the Executive Director
2 years ago, cotton said, ‘We
just concluded year 2022 and the
preliminary estimate is a One billion
dollar loss and by end of year
it will almost almost be a $3 billion
loss over 24 months as predicted.”
Asked if the trucking situation
at the U.S.-Canada border would
affect Port operations, Cotton
said that they have been having
conversations about this and
watching how it develops.
Another reporter asked about
the status s of the Port investigation
on over charging by certain
vendors at the airport. Port
responded that the investigation
was ongoing.