Commissioner Anthony Sartor on Monday became the third high-ranking official to quit the Port Authority in the wake of Bridgegate. He’ll follow ex-Chairman David Samson and ex-Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni out the door.
Sartor’s resignation comes amid a growing number of investigations of the PA, including one reported just last week launched by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. Could the case for major reform of the authority be any stronger?
Thanks to the Bridgegate lane closures, we’ve already learned how ripe this $8 billion agency is for abuse. A big problem is its bi-state structure. Because top staffers answer to two different governors — New Jersey’s governor appoints its chairman, while New York’s selects the executive director — it makes accountability difficult.
Still, the real dysfunction is that the PA has strayed far from its original mission. At its start, that job was primarily management of ports and interstate bridges and tunnels. Later, it took over airports. Now it’s a monstrosity used by politicians to fund pet projects and subsidize such money-losers as the PATH, not to mention its $4 billion Santiago Calatrava-designed World Trade Center station.
How do you tame this beast? By keeping it small and focused. For example, does the PA truly need its own police force of 2,000 officers who are better paid than the NYPD? Should it operate airports, much less own real estate like the World Trade Center, an office complex in Staten Island and industrial parks in Yonkers and Elizabeth?
PA Executive Director Pat Foye told The Post in January that his agency would soon be returning to its “core mission.” But how soon? And how much will it scale back?
The bi-state nature of the PA does complicate matters, but some bi-state component will always remain. The best way to build a better Port Authority is to build a smaller one.