Seems Chris Christie used the Port Authority funds to pay for transportation projects in New Jersey. The NJ state transportation fund is notoriously depleted and in a state which refuses to raise gasoline taxes to pay for its roads and car usage, diverting money from a bi-state agency appears to be the way to go. And, assigning that money that helped Christie politically.
Governor Chris Christie’s team at the Port Authority did more during their tenure at the agency than cause traffic headaches for a mayor who didn’t endorse a governor with national ambitions. David Wildstein and Bill Baroni also directed billions of dollars of the bi-state agency’s funds to projects that helped plug New Jersey’s budget holes.
The bi-state agency, with its steady stream of income from tolls and airport fees, provided more than $3.3 billion to support New Jersey projects favored by Governor Christie, who was cutting budgets in Trenton and refusing to raise the gas tax to fund transportation projects. Several of the projects went to state facilities not under the Port Authority's purview.
Here are some of the projects that helped Christie avoid budget headaches:
-- $1.8 billion for renovation of the Pulaski Skyway (redirected from the killed NJ Transit tunnel under the Hudson)
-- $1 billion to raise the Bayonne Bridge so larger ships can pass under it
-- $235 million to purchase the Military Ocean Terminal, which bailed out the city of Bayonne
-- $256 million to upgrade the Harrison PATH station
-- Taking over the money-losing Atlantic City airport
To my knowledge NY Gov. Cuomo has not diverted PA funds to roads and bridges that can help him win public support. I thought it was bad enough that drivers entering the tunnels and crossing the bridges had to pour money into the slush fund to pay for the
obscene cost overruns at the World Trade Center Freedom Towers. The tolls have been raised twice already since Hurricane Sandy a little over a year ago. The non-discount crossing now costs $13. The Port Authority jacks up the tolls at will, with no accountability as to why or where the money goes. Now we are starting to get an idea.
