New York is one of the major cities of the world and the entrance of the Eastern Seaboard of North America. River Hudson and the New York harbor form the boundary between New York and New Jersey states (Rodrigue,2007).
The port of New York is strategically located to serve important areas of America through the Erie Canal. This canal was launched in the early 1920’s and connected New York with Albany and Buffalo. New York port later developed from a simple American seaport to a very active international port by 1850.Railway development greatly affected the canal system but acknowledged the importance of the port of New York. Conflicts between the two states around the port of New York retarded the development of the port especially the usage and ownership of the habor facilities along river Hudson.
During the World War one a major conflict between New York and New Jersey concerning the cargo charges arose. New Jersey complained to the Interstate Commerce Commission to lower the rail cargo charges on its side of the Hudson to attract more passengers but the commission declined the request. The commission stated that Port area was to be shared by the two states leading to the establishment of the New York port Authority in 1921 to reconcile the two states.
The port Authority of New York and New Jersey plays an important role in infrastructure development. The Authority decided to take over the bridges and tunnels linking the two states as the first priority following an agreement between the two states. This was followed by construction of the Goethals and Outerbridge bridges in 1928 and later George Washington and Bayonne bridges in 1931(Rodrigue,2007).
This project by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey changed the Authority’s legal and administrative status because the projects were completed in time and at a lower cost. Other achievements of the Authority was the take over of the Holland tunnel in 1930 and launching of the Lincoln tunnel in 1937.This two tunnels served the highly populated area of Manhattan. A connectivity problem between the two states was then solved by the completion of these two tunnels. The Second World War influenced great changes in the transport sector leading to the development of air transport terminals which were managed by the Authority. Newark, La Guardia and John F. Kennedy airports became world class terminals under the leadership of the authority by 1948 (Revell & Keith,2008)..
The general port terminals were then changed to specialized ports named Port Elizabeth, Newark, Red Hook and Howland Hook. Interstates connections developed forced the Authority to shift from its initial priority of American land transportation to an interstate system. Lack of industries slowed the New York economy and the Authority took issue and constructed the world trade center. Lack of industries and headquarters of major corporations slowed the economic growth of the two states forcing the Authority to establish the World Trade Center in 1970, industrial and telecommunication parks and a power plant in 1990 to stimulate the regional economic development.
Focus also shifted to containerization which started another plan to reconstruct the ports to handle the containers. Port Elizabeth was the first container port to be built.
Another important role of the Authority was to provide the terminal facilities. New York port being a major entrance had a big population leaving around it and therefore more facilities had to be provided for the population. The expanding of transport system after the Second World War led to the construction of several airports that were equidistant from the port of New York. The population around these ports complicated the facility problem with John F Kennedy having the highest population (Revell,2008).Other airports around New York port were La Guardia and Newark Liberty International.
Over one million Passengers used the three airports. This made New York a world’s leading transport hub. Since 50% of the Authority comes from the passengers and cargo business its therefore important to properly develop the airports. Air and railway facilities connecting Newark, JFK airports and the rail were developed in early 2000. JFK terminals were also reconstructed with its major runway being expanded to accommodate big airplanes.
The port Authority of New York and New Jersey also provides land transportation and other important structures like bridges and tunnels. Traffic develops along all the crossing between the city of New York and New Jersey and therefore the Authority has developed an electric toll system to control the traffic. Two waterfront projects have been developed to change the maritime terminals to several uses to reduce other problems within the urban areas. The Authority has also provided power through recycling of refuse to sustain the population. However, the Authority has progressively constructed its assets to establish a wide range of terminals to handle the passengers. New York Port Authority has developed to control the transport system with an employee population of about 7,200 people ( Keith,2007)..
References
Rodrigue,P. (2007) Appropriate models of port governance Lessons from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. New York.
Revell, Keith D. (2008). Cooperation, Capture, and Autonomy: The Interstate Commerce Commission and the Port Authority in the 1920s. Journal of Policy History 12 (2): 177–214.