Just days into her tenure, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill found herself in a backroom standoff with New York’s governor over who would wield power at the region’s transportation agency.
At issue between Sherrill and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was leadership at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency that runs the region’s ports, bridges, tunnels, and airports.
In the end, they struck a deal that reshapes the structure of an agency in one of the country’s most transit‑dense corridors. It also lands after years of friction between the two states over its governance.
Sherrill agreed to the appointment of Kathryn Garcia, a former top aide to Hochul, as the authority’s new executive director. In return, Hochul signed off on Jean Roehrenbeck, a former Sherrill aide, becoming deputy executive director, a position that had sat vacant for 13 years…
A century of tensions
Disagreements between the two states have marked the Port Authority’s 105‑year history.
One early flashpoint involved the PATH railroad. New Jersey demanded the agency purchase it before supporting construction of the World Trade Center, according to James Hughes, dean emeritus of Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy…
Experts said they don’t believe this is a return to the bad old days of in-fighting between the states and gridlock moving major projects.
“I think the governor is doing the right thing by having a deputy executive director who should be at the table,” Hughes said of Sherrill.