The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s Board of Commissioners on Thursday confirmed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s nomination of Patrick Foye as executive director.
Foye, 53, replaces Christopher Ward, who had served in the position for three years.
Ward will remain in his position until the end of the month, then serve as an advisor to the authority for a transitional period through the end of the year, according to the governor.
Cuomo’s predecessor, David Paterson, appointed Ward.
Cuomo also nominated James Rubin and Rossana Rosado to the board, and called for the board to approve the consolidation of the Moynihan Station Development Corp. and Lower Manhattan Development Corp.’s operations.
“The governor has appointed a person who has expertise in finance, and that’s the big task at the moment, since there are far more demands on Port Authority revenue than there are dollars,” said Mitchell Moss, director of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
Foye, 53, is now the governor’s deputy secretary of economic development. In that capacity, he manages the state’s initiatives for economic recovery, investment, and job creation, and oversees the Empire State Development Corp.
Previously, he was deputy executive for Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano. Before that, Foye was the downstate chief of the ESDC for former Gov. Eliot Spitzer as well as vice chairman of the Long Island Power Authority.
During his tenure, Ward closed a lucrative lease with publishing giant Conde Nast at 1 World Trade Center and completed the memorial plaza at Ground Zero in time for the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Cuomo, who took office in January, had been looking to install his own chairman.
“In general, I favor keeping able executives at the Port Authority in place, especially when there are complex and difficult projects under way. It is unfortunate that some governors see the need to replace the Port Authority’s top officials, even if they are doing a good job,” said Jameson Doig, author of “Empire on the Hudson,” a book chronicling the agency’s history.
Last month the authority sold a record $1 billion of taxable 40-year bonds to finance the 16-acre World Trade Center site, including 1 World Trade Center, a vehicle-security center and a transportation hub.
In August, the authority’s board approved toll and fare hikes for several New York-area bridges and its Port Authority Trans-Hudson, or PATH, trains between Manhattan and New Jersey.
Commissioners said they needed the revenue stream to protect future bond ratings.
The Port Authority has an Aa2 rating from Moody’s Investors Service, which last January assigned a negative outlook. Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s each assign a AA-minus with a stable outlook to the credit.
David Emil will become the authority’s deputy executive director.
Rubin, in addition to joining the board, will become senior advisor for international competitiveness. He is the U.S. president of the nonprofit Atlantic Partnership, which promotes U.S.-European relations.
Rosado has been publisher and chief executive of El Diario La Prensa, the nation’s oldest Spanish-language newspaper.
