Posted on May 17, 2020
The Port Authority is asking for a federal bailout due to the coronavirus crisis.
In a letter to members of the New York and New Jersey Congressional delegations, the inter-state agency said it expects to lose $3 billion over the next 24 months due to the pandemic as it continues to operate airports and other facilities despite record-low usage.
Without an influx of cash, the agency will have to make “drastic cuts to a variety of critical infrastructure projects” expected to pump $20 billion into the regional economy over the next four years, its leaders argue.
“Our region cannot afford, now, to walk away from these jobs or these billions of dollars of construction spending. They would drive the recovery,” wrote Chairman Kevin O’Toole and Executive Director Rick Cotton.
The Port Authority’s financial woes come thanks to a dramatic drop in revenue during the outbreak. Airport traffic is down 97 percent, PATH ridership is down 95 percent and bridge and tunnel traffic is down 50 percent, the officials said.
O’Toole and Cotton also argued Congress to create a separate pool of funds for multi-state agencies, which are not mentioned in draft legislation currently circulating in Washington.
The Port Authority got just $450 million from the March federal stimulus bill, after asking for nearly $2 billion.
New York’s MTA, meanwhile, got $3.9 billion from the stimulus — and wants another $8.9 billion through the end of 2021 to avoid devastating cuts to long-term maintenance.
Source: nypost
