Paul Berger

Staff writer, @pdberger

Plans to construct a new Midtown Manhattan bus terminal inched closer Thursday as commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved a draft proposal to spend more than $30 billion on regional infrastructure projects over the next 10 years.

But the unanimous resolution was criticized by one commissioner, who spoke out against “the grand compromise” necessary to move the plan forward, resulting in billions of dollars being spent on what he characterized as wasteful projects to appease the governors of both states.

“I don’t feel that good government means I’ll let you waste $2 billion of public money in return for you letting me waste $2 billion of public money,” said the commissioner, Kenneth Lipper.

Port Authority staff and commissioners have spent the past year hammering out the draft capital plan, which is a revision of a previous plan that omitted funding for the bus terminal.

The terminal, which serves 230,000 commuters each day, mostly from New Jersey, is already operating over capacity and faces a steep rise in passengers in the coming decades. Engineers say that because of structural issues the terminal will need to be replaced in about 20 years.

The Port Authority estimates that a new terminal built on the west side of Manhattan will cost about $10 billion.

But New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has made infrastructure a cornerstone of his administration and who would rather see the agency invest in other projects, has tried to slow plans for the terminal and limit its funding.

During the past few months tensions have bubbled over, leading to several public spats between Cuomo and the agency’s chairman, John Degnan, an appointee of Governor Christie.

The arguments over the terminal have played out against a wider struggle between the leadership of both states, which each jealously guard the agency’s assets.

A confidential early draft of the capital plan, obtained by The Record, showed that the agency created a spreadsheet listing major infrastructure projects and attributing their costs to one or both states. The document was crafted in a way that could show the governors that they were each receiving an equal share of resources.

But observers of the agency and past Port Authority leaders point out that the agency’s mission is to move people and goods through the region, not to pander to the parochial interests of one state or the other.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who is running for governor of New Jersey this year, reminded commissioners of the agency’s regional mission during a public session of the meeting on Thursday.

Wisniewski, a transportation specialist and a leader of the legislative investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal, said: “I can’t help but wonder if this capital plan is really the best we can do or if this agency is still being treated like a personal slush fund for the governors of both states.”

EXCLUSIVE: Document lifts lid on $30B Port Authority plan

The Port Authority declined to release the full draft capital plan immediately. Instead, the public had to make do with a five-page summary.

The summary showed $3.5 billion for the new bus terminal. State Sens. Loretta Weinberg and Bob Gordon told commissioners they were concerned that the sum was considerably less than the Port Authority estimates it will take to build a replacement.

But the agency’s chairman, Degnan, said he thought the sum would be enough “to get shovels in the ground and construction underway” in the next 10 years, with the terminal being completed during the following 10 years. “I am convinced if we spend $3.5 billion, this Port Authority will find a way to finish it,” Degnan said.

The capital plan also included more than $7 billion to complete projects currently under construction, such as redevelopment of LaGuardia Airport's Terminal B, the building of a new Goethals Bridge and the raising of the roadway of the Bayonne Bridge to allow a new larger class of container ships to enter the region’s ports.

The plan also included $2.7 billion of funding for elements of the Gateway program to double rail capacity between Newark and New York Penn Station.

Lipper focused his ire on two rail projects, costing several billion dollars: a PATH rail system extension to Newark Liberty International Airport, which is seen as important to the Christie administration, and an AirTrain to LaGuardia Airport, which is favored by Cuomo.

The cost of the two projects totaled more than $3 billion, with an assumption that more than $1 billion of that cost would be met by “third-party” funding.

Lipper repeated fears he raised last month that the rail lines would attract too few passengers. He said he believed their operating losses could reach $100 million, jeopardizing the agency’s future financial health.

Several commissioners said they sympathized with Lipper’s concerns. But they argued that the feasibility of both projects could be more closely scrutinized by the agency and its board in the future.

Although no one addressed the AirTrain to LaGuardia, a few commissioners spoke in favor of the PATH rail extension, including Degnan, who emphasized that the proposal was included in the agency’s prior capital plan and that a study conducted by the Regional Plan Association in 2011 found “compelling arguments” for creating a one-seat ride from Newark to Lower Manhattan.

Degnan reminded his colleagues that the governors of the states, who hold veto power over the agency’s resolutions, “were elected by millions of people.”

He said the capital plan included many worthwhile and important projects. Acknowledging that he did not agree with every proposal in the plan, Degnan said it was his job as a board member to move forward a document that would be approved by both governors.

“I don’t believe that compromise is a bad thing,” Degnan said.

A Port Authority spokesman said the full draft capital plan would be released shortly and would be made available on the agency's website.

The agency will hold a public hearing on the capital plan in Manhattan on Jan. 31, and in Jersey City on Feb. 7, before commissioners vote on finalizing the plan on Feb. 16.