The chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, David Samson, has resigned his position as of Friday morning, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said.
The Port Authority has been a center of controversy since emails in January indicated that authority officials may have arranged a traffic jam in Fort Lee, N.J. in September 2013 to take revenge against the borough's mayor for failing to support Christie's reelection bid.
Christie said at a press conference that Samson has been considering leaving the authority for the last year. Christie said that he will initially replace Samson with one of the five New Jersey members of the commission.
In the last few months the New York Times and other publications have called for the resignation of Samson. The Times said that Samson had involved himself in several decisions at the authority in which his bond counsel firm, Wolff & Samson PC, had a vested interest.
Wolff & Samson was the biggest bond counsel firm in New Jersey in 2013, by par value advised.
In recent weeks the authority's executive director, Patrick Foye, told the New York Daily News that Samson lacked the moral authority to remain chairman.
The Port Authority has $19 billion in outstanding bonds, according to Standard & Poor's. The total doesn't include $1.2 billion in Liberty revenue bonds for 4 World Trade Center.
The authority is rated Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service, AA-minus by S&P and AA-minus by Fitch Ratings.
