New Port Authority director named as capital plan looms

Bloomberg News

Kathryn Garcia was chosen to head the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, pending confirmation by its board.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul nominated Garcia as the authority's current head, Rick Cotton, will retire in January. 

Garcia currently serves as Hochul's director of state operations and infrastructure, a position she's held since 2022.

"From the Gateway Tunnel to Micron, the Interborough Express to our Nuclear Moonshot, Kathryn helped us launch and advance generational infrastructure projects and rebuild our economy following the pandemic with an eye toward the future," Hochul said in a press release. "I am thankful she will continue serving the people of New York as executive director of the Port Authority."

The agency will embark on its $45 billion 10-year capital plan beginning next year. 

The projects include renovations of the John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, the $10 billion Midtown Bus Terminal upgrade and rehabilitation of the George Washington Bridge. 

The Port Authority has roughly $29 billion of outstanding bonds. Its most recent deal, $1.13 billion of refunding general obligation bonds, priced in August. 

The Port Authority is rated Aa3 by Moody's Ratings, AA-minus by S&P Global Ratings and AA-minus by Fitch Ratings. 

PANYNJ has undertaken ambitious capital projects involving public-private partnerships, including the JFK and LaGuardia airport renovations, which have proven very appealing to the muni market. 

Garcia's position in Hochul's administration has given her experience with major infrastructure projects, which she referenced as she accepted the nomination. 

"I'm enormously proud of what we have accomplished over the last four years," Garcia said: "launching the largest infrastructure project in modern history with the Gateway Development Commission; reducing traffic and generating critical funding for the MTA through congestion pricing; and advancing the 1-81 Viaduct project to reunite Syracuse's Southside."

Prior to joining the Hochul administration, Garcia ran for mayor of New York City and served as the city's Department of Sanitation commissioner. She has worked for the state Department of Environmental Protection and was an interim chair of the New York City Housing Authority in 2019. 

Cotton has led the Port Authority since 2017. He called Garcia a "superb choice."

"I have worked closely with Kathryn for many years. She has deep knowledge of city and state government combined with extraordinary insight and judgment and a collaborative spirit," Cotton said in a press release. "I could not imagine a government executive better suited to advance the Port Authority's standards of world-class infrastructure and get things done."