Port Authority of N.Y., N.J. Officials Get Subpoenaed

Four officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey received subpoenas from the New Jersey Legislature’s assembly transportation committee on Thursday.

The committee was given subpoena power by the full assembly in March.

According to a statement released by the Assembly Democrats of New Jersey, the subpoenas were issued after Port Authority officials failed to respond to inquiries about toll increases, Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to cancel a Hudson River commuter rail tunnel project, and potential patronage hiring in the governor’s office.

“We gave the Port Authority numerous chances to cooperate and time and time again it failed to adequately do so,” said assemblyman John Wisniewski, D-Middlesex, who also chairs the transportation committee.

“The Port Authority is an out-of-control agency that has forgotten it serves the public,” he added.

The Port Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The subpoenas require response by Nov. 8 and seek documents and correspondence related to the toll increases, tunnel project, and hiring in Gov. Christie’s office.

The officials whop received the subpoenas were Executive Director Patrick Foye and Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni. Karen Eastman, board secretary, and Daniel Duffy, freedom of information administrator also received copies.

Wisniewski said that last year’s toll increases were “exorbitant” and painful to commuters and that the cancelled tunnel project cost New Jersey 6,000 immediate jobs and put the state’s economic development at risk.

The tunnel project, called Access to the Region’s Core, was a commuter rail project to increase passenger service capacity on the New Jersey Transit between New Jersey and Manhattan.

Gov. Christie cancelled the project in 2010, citing possible cost overruns and a lack of funds.

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