Read complete books and articles on: Port of New York

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey - self-sustaining public corporation established in 1921 by the states of New York and New Jersey to administer the activities of the New York–New Jersey port area, which has a waterfront of c.900 mi (1,450 km) lying in both states. In 1917 the governors of New York and New Jersey appointed a bistate commission to study the problem of coordinating port and harbor development for the two states as a whole in an attempt to resolve the many disputes between the states concerning such matters as boundaries, marine police jurisdiction, and freight rates. Out of this group's recommendations grew the idea for the authority, and in 1921 a compact was signed (the Port Compact) that defined a single Port District and provided for its administration by a Port Authority that was to coordinate terminal, transportation, and other facilities of commerce. Originally called the Port of New York Authority, the name was changed in 1972 to reflect the joint administration of the port.

The authority consists of 12 unsalaried commissioners, 6 appointed by the governor of each state. Since the commissioners constitute agents of the state, their instructions take the form of legislative mandates. The work of the commissioners, in addition to administration, includes development, construction, operation, and protection of the Port District. The authority finances its activities from income such as tolls and charges and by selling revenue bonds in the public market.

The authority has been so successful that it has set a pattern in administration. It has given to the inhabitants of the Port District a modern and efficient network of bridges, tunnels, and terminal facilities without adding to the burden of the New York or New Jersey taxpayers. Among its projects have been the refinancing of the Holland Tunnel and the construction of the George Washington Bridge, the Lincoln Tunnel, the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City, marine terminals in Newark and Elizabeth, and the Port Authority Trans-Hudson RR, known as PATH. The agency also administers numerous facilities, including the New York City airports and Newark International Airport, and built the former World Trade Center complex.

Although business in the New York and New Jersey harbors suffered during the 1970s and 80s from the overall decrease in U.S. exports and the loss of customers to competitors in the South and in Canada, by 1985 the volume of exports in containerized cargo began to rise steadily as a result of the authority's commitment to investing in new technology and its shift to a more agressive business and marketing policy that included improved relationships with the government and with shipping and manufacturing companies.

See J. W. Doig, Empire on the Hudson (2001).

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10 of the Best Books and Articles on: Port of New York

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Empire on the Hudson: Entrepreneurial Vision and Political Power at the Port of New York Authority » Read Now
by Jameson W. Doig. 582 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Revered and reviled in almost equal amounts since its inception, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has been responsible for creating and maintaining much of New York and New Jersey's transportation infrastructure -- the things that make the region work. Doig traces the evolution of the...
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Revered and reviled in almost equal amounts since its inception, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has been responsible for creating and maintaining much of New York and New Jersey's transportation infrastructure -- the things that make the region work. Doig traces the evolution of the Port Authority from the battles leading to its creation in 1921 through its conflicts with the railroads and its expansion to build bridges and tunnels for motor vehicles. Chronicling the adroit maneuvers that led the Port Authority to take control of the region's airports and seaport operations, build the largest bus terminal in the nation, and construct the World Trade Center, Doig reveals the rise to power of one of the world's largest specialized regional governments. This definitive history of the Port Authority underscores the role of several key players -- Austin Tobin, the obscure lawyer who became Executive Director and a true "power broker" in the bi-state region, Julius Henry Cohen, general counsel of the Port Authority for its first twenty years, and Othmar H. Ammann, the Swiss engineer responsible for the George Washington Bridge, the Bayonne and Goethels bridges, the Outerbridge Crossing, and the Lincoln Tunnel. Today, with public works projects stalled by community opposition in almost every village and city, the story of how the Port Authority managed to create an empire on the Hudson offers lessons for citizens and politicians everywhere.
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2.

Over and Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor » Read Now
by Brian J. Cudahy. 500 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Ask the average American anywhere in the country to answer the association question "Staten Island" and you get "Ferry" in immediate response. what is regularly billed as "America's favorite boatride"- not least because a round trip still costs an astonishing twenty-five cents- is the last public...
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Ask the average American anywhere in the country to answer the association question "Staten Island" and you get "Ferry" in immediate response. what is regularly billed as "America's favorite boatride"- not least because a round trip still costs an astonishing twenty-five cents- is the last public survivor of New York Harbor's once immense fleet of those doughty double-ended ferryboats. Dozens of ferryboats in a myriad of liveries crossed the harbor's waterways as recently as one generation ago Most have vanished as though they never were, leaving in their ghostly wakes only fading memories and a few gorgeously restored ferry terminals. The handsomest of these terminals, on the New Jersey side of the Hudson, is probably the one dubbed by Christopher Morley the Piazza San Lackawanna. Over and Back captures definatively nearly two centuries of ferryboating in New York Harbor, by a master narrator of the history of transportation in America. In stories, charts, maps, photographs, diagrams, route lists, fleet rosters, and in the histories of some four hundred ferryboats, Brian J. Cudahy captures the whole tale as concisely as one could hope. The transportation expert, the ferry buff, the model builder, the urban historian: each will find grist for his or her mill. The photographs capture a highlt significant footnote in America's past and present; the colored illustrations prserve some of the stylish rigs in which the owners garbed their boats, despite coal soot, oil smudge, and urban grime. Fully a third of the book comprises the most complete statistical compilation that the nation's public and private archives permit. The data show, among other things, that some of the former workhorses of New York Harbor are filling utilitarian or social roles elsewhere in the United States and overseas, and that the newest boats in the harbor began life along the Gulf of Mexico and in New England.
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3.

A Study of the Port of New York Authority (1949) » Read Now
by Frederick L. Bird. 199 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
4.

The Rise of New York Port (1815-1860) (1939) » Read Now
by Robert Greenhalgh Albion, Jennie Barnes Pope. 549 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
5.

The Waterfront Commission of the Port of New York: A History and Appraisal, in Industrial & Labor Relations Review » Read Now
by Peter B. Levy. 16 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
6.

Around Manhattan Island and Other Maritime Tales of New York » Read Now
by Brian J. Cudahy. 288 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This book contains six different stories about six different maritime subjects, each involving the port of New York in a central and important way. A second theme common to all six stories - perhaps the only other one - is sheer personal interest on my part. The stories also include one or more...
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This book contains six different stories about six different maritime subjects, each involving the port of New York in a central and important way. A second theme common to all six stories - perhaps the only other one - is sheer personal interest on my part. The stories also include one or more appendices found at the end of the book (before the index).
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7.

The Hudson River Guidebook (Chap. 1 "From the Ocean's Depths to New York Bay" and Chap. 2 "New York City and the New Jersey Palisasdes") » Read Now
by Arthur G. Adams. 448 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This book describes the river and shorelines point by point, with historical background. Emphasis is upon points as seen from the water. Inland points of interest are also covered in self-guiding road routes along either shore.
8.

Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World » Read Now
by Rodman Gilder. 44 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
9.

In the Shadow of Liberty: The Chronicle of Ellis Island (1935) » Read Now
by Edward Corsi. 368 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
10.

Re-creating the Historical Topography of Manhattan Island, in The Geographical Review » Read Now
by Reuben Skye Rose-Redwood. 9 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library