Opinion

Shrink the Port Authority

This week the Port Authority’s board put off a vote on the $1.2 billion loan guarantee for 3 World Trade Center, the office tower being built by developer Larry Silverstein.

That’s welcome news for those who want the PA to get back to its core mission: transportation and infrastructure. The idea now is to increase the private financing for the tower to reduce the PA’s financial exposure.

Silverstein, to put it mildly, is disappointed. He rightly points out his company has done what the PA has asked. And we share his frustration at the way he’s been jerked around over the years.

Put it this way: Had everything been left to Silverstein without the PA, it would all have been built years ago.
But past PA misdeeds don’t justify a loan that again takes the Port Authority outside its core mission.

The PA is sagging in debt, thanks to projects that lost money or were plagued by massive cost overruns. Too many have been real-estate deals.

Former Deputy Mayor Ken Lipper, a PA board member, called the loan guarantee “an inappropriate investment.” We agree.

Let the private sector help 3 WTC rise, and let the Port Authority shrink as it reduces its bloated bureaucracy and weans itself off its addiction to real estate.