Know your Port Authority of Kevin J. O'Toole
Women and Men Who Are the Board of Commissioners
The Port Authority of NY&NJ is a 100 year old agency
that is responsible for a vast number of transportation
and related services throughout the region.
It has been responsible for many of the bridges and
tunnels, Bus terminals, Path, World Trade Center ,seaports
and airports that many of us use everyday. This
is the governing body that plans, finances, builds, operates
and maintains most of the important transportation
and trade infrastructure through air, land, rail and sea. often
with private investors to better the transportation and
movement of goods that impact our daily lives.
The Board of Commissioners hold monthly meeting
AIRPORT V 20 OICE, DECEMBER 2021
where the public can watch the proceedings live on the
Port website or on Facebook.
https://www.panynj.gov/port-authority/en/help-center/
social-media.html
The public may also request to speak or record a
question for the Board.
The governor of each state appoints six members of the
agency's Board of Commissioners, subject to state senate
approval. Commissioners serve as public officials without
pay for overlapping six-year terms. The governors retain the
right to veto the actions of the commissioners from his or
her own state. Board meetings are public.
An Executive Director, appointed by the Board of
Commissioners, is responsible for managing the operation
of the Port Authority in a manner consistent with the
agency's policies, as established by the Board.
The Port Authority undertakes projects and activities
in accordance with the Port Compact in 1921, and amendatory
and supplemental legislation.
The meetings are an excellent way to keep up to date
on the transportation, minimum wage, minority opportunities,
inclusion and diversity issues that affect your life
and livelihood through the major infrastructure projects
supporting opportunities for all groups.
Chairman
Kevin J. O'Toole was
nominated to the Board of
Commissioners by Governor
Chris Christie. He joined
the Board on July 2, 2017. He
was elected Chairman of the
Board on August 3, 2017.
As the founding and managing
partner of O'Toole Scrivo,
Kevin O'Toole's law
practice encompasses toxic tort, environmental law, risk
management, class actions, complex litigation, and corporate
investigations. He is routinely called upon by Fortune
500 companies to obtain cost-effective, early resolution of
complex matters and sought out to provide detailed analyses
of sophisticated matters, evaluate case preparation,
predict outcomes and assist in the development of strategic
risk management planning. Kevin has served as both
National Coordinating Counsel for corporate clients and
operational leader of multi-jurisdictional litigation teams
that have been responsible for trying dozens of high profile
multi-million dollar matters.
Jeffrey H.
Lynford
Vice Chairman
Jeffrey H. Lynford was appointed
to the Board of Commissioners
in June 2011 by
Governor Cuomo and reappointed
in 2013. He was
elected Vice Chairman of the
Board on July 20, 2017.
Mr. Lynford, currently
serves as President and
CEO of Educational Housing
Services, Inc., the leading not-for-profit New York City organization
that provides safe and affordable housing for
college students and interns since 1987. He was the cofounder
of the Wellsford group of public and private real
estate companies. Over an 18 year period he served as
the Chairman of three exchange-listed corporations:
Wellsford Residential Property Trust (NYSE: an investment
grade multi-family REIT from 1992 to 1997), Wellsford
Real Properties, Inc. (AMEX: a real estate merchant
banking and development firm from 1997 to 2007), and
Reis, Inc. (NASDAQ: real estate analytics and information
firm from 2007 to 2010). Previously, he held senior investment
banking positions on Wall Street.
Steven M. Cohen
Steven M. Cohen was
nominated to the Board of
Commissioners by Governor
Andrew Como. He joined the
Board on June 16, 2021.
For over 30 years, Steven
M. Cohen has served
as counselor and legal advisor
in the public and private
sector. He currently
operates an advisory consulting
firm and also serves as co-chair of the Gateway
Development Commission. Until 2020, Steve was General
Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer of MacAndrews
& Forbes Incorporated. Prior to that, Steve
served as Secretary to New York Governor Andrew M.
Cuomo, in addition to serving as Counselor and Chief
of Staff in the Office of the New York Attorney General
under Attorney General Cuomo. In private practice,
Steve has represented a wide array of corporations
and individuals in complex commercial, criminal,
and regulatory matters. Early in his career, Steve was
an Assistant U.S. Attorney and the Chief of the Violent
Gangs Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern
District of New York.
Leecia Eve
Leecia Eve was nominated
to the Board of Commissioners
by Governor Andrew
M. Cuomo and joined
the Board on July 12, 2017.
Leecia Eve serves as Vice
President of Public Policy at
Verizon, focused on driving
Verizon’s deployment of 5G
in the New York metro region.
She previously served
as Vice President for State
Government Affairs, overseeing
public policy, government
and external affairs, regulatory affairs and philanthropy in
the Tri-State area.
Before joining Verizon in July 2013, Leecia Eve served
as the Deputy Secretary for Economic Development for
New York, and, as such, was the chief economic development
advisor to New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.
As Deputy Secretary, Ms. Eve focused on leveraging State
resources to attract new investment in strategic industries
and critical infrastructure through public-private partnerships,
bring new businesses to New York and help New
York's businesses strengthen and expand, while marketing
the Empire State as a state that is once again Open
for Business.
Daniel J. Horwitz
Daniel J. Horwitz was
nominated to the Board of
Commissioners by Governor
Andrew M. Cuomo and joined
the Board on July 10, 2017.
Daniel J. Horwitz is a
partner with the law firm of
McLaughlin & Stern, LLP,
where he focuses his practice
on the defense of individuals
and companies in white
collar criminal and regulatory enforcement investigations
and cases, as well as in complex commercial lawsuits and
arbitrations. He routinely handles matters before federal
and state courts, prosecutors and regulatory agencies, including
the U.S. Attorneys for the Southern and Eastern
Districts of New York, the Securities and Exchange Commission,
the Manhattan District Attorney and the New York
Attorney General. He has also led numerous internal investigations
on behalf of corporations, audit committees,
special litigation committees and special board committees.
Mr. Horwitz has also served as an independent integrity
monitor and independent investigator on behalf of
New York City and the State of New York.
Gary LaBarbera
Gary LaBarbera was nominated
to the Board of Commissioners
by Governor Andrew
M. Cuomo and joined the
Board on June 30, 2017.
Mr. LaBarbera has served
since 2009 as president of
the Building and Construction
Trades Council of Greater New
York, an organization comprising
local affiliates of 15 national
and international unions representing
100,000 working men
and women in New York City.
Within weeks of assuming this position, Mr. LaBarbera
embarked on ambitious negotiations for project labor
agreements (PLA) to provide labor cost savings to advance
major public and private projects at risk of stalling
due to the economic recession.
In addition to his work with the public sector, Mr. La-
Barbera has helped bring approximately $25 billion of private
work under project labor agreements in New York
City, creating thousands of union construction jobs in the
process.
Dana M. Martinotti
Dana Martinotti was nominated
by New Jersey Governor
Phil Murphy and joined the
Board on June 7, 2021.
An educator for just under
twenty-five years, Dana Martinotti
has served as the principal
of School Number 5 in Cliffside
Park since 2015 where
she is responsible for managing
staff and finances in addition
to ensuring a safe, rigorous,
academic environment for her students. Prior to
being appointed principal, Ms. Martinotti was the Director
of Curriculum and Instruction where she was instrumental
in establishing and implementing the district wide curriculum,
overseeing testing, training supervisors to administer
district and statewide standardized tests, and conducting
performance evaluation for supervisors, teachers, and
support staff. Ms. Martinotti has also served as a reading
specialist as well as a classroom teacher. Presently she
serves as the district’s School Safety Specialist where she
is responsible for implementing security plans, tools, and
programs to heighten security throughout the district.
Kevin P. McCabe
Kevin P. McCabe was nominated
to the Board of Commissioners
by Governor Chris
Christie and joined the Board
on December 19, 2017. He was
reappointed by Governor Phil
Murphy in 2021.
Mr. McCabe is a partner at
River Crossing Strategy Group,
a lobbying and public affairs
firm in New Jersey.During his
presidency, he led the Trust from a single state entity to a
multistate, multimillion-dollar organization.Previously, Mr.
/social-media.html
/social-media.html
/social-media.html