During a news conference on Tuesday at Newark Penn Station Senate Democratic leaders made the call to the agency to sell its non-transportation assets, a day after Senate Republicans blocked an override of Governor Chris Christie’s veto of a Port Authority overhaul.
Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg said that bill, which passed both states’ legislatures unanimously last year and was vetoed by both governors in December, would have given lawmakers greater leverage over the authority.
Senate President Steve Sweeney warned that the Amtrak’s Gateway tunnel project connecting northern New Jersey with Manhattan is in danger of failing and that its closure could mean economic havoc for the region.
Sweeney did not detail how Democrats could compel the agency to follow through on the plan, but said it might generate up to USD 3 billion.
The sale would send a message that the agency is serious about fixing transportation infrastructure. “We need to send a signal to the Federal Government that there’s a commitment and there’s an willingness between the two states through the authority that’s responsible for this,” Sweeney said.
This is not the first time officials have called for selling the agency’s real estate.
Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recommended in December that the agency begin selling real estate not connected to transportation, and Senate Republican leader Tom Kean Jr has introduced a Port Authority overhaul measure that makes similar provisions for the authority’s real estate.