Politics & Government

Port Authority Chief Subpoenaed Over GWB Lane Closures

A Democratic lawmaker has subpoenaed the Port Authority’s top executive to testify at a hearing next month about the agency’s decision to close two of three George Washington Bridge access lanes from Fort Lee.


The subpoena demands that Executive Director Patrick Foye appear at a Dec. 9 meeting of the state Assembly’s transportation committee.


Foye, an appointee of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was subpoenaed after he didn’t show up for a hearing on the traffic snarling closures Monday. Foye reportedly cited a scheduling conflict in not attending the first Trenton hearing.

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Instead, Gov. Chris Christie’s top appointee at the Port Authority, Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni, testified that the closures were caused by a traffic study examining the fairness of having three upper level approach lanes dedicated to commuters from Fort Lee.


Baroni acknowledged his agency should have given Fort Lee authorities a heads up, but Democratic committee members remained deeply skeptical.

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“Mr. Baroni’s unprofessional testimony created many more unanswered questions,” the committee chairman, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, said in a statement. “It’s important for the Legislature to understand the circumstances surrounding these lane closures, as the impact on emergency services from the inexplicable lack of notification could have resulted in the loss of life.”


Baroni also confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that David Wildstein, a Christie ally at the Port Authority, ordered the September lane closures. Speculation emerged that the move was politically-motivated retaliation at Democratic Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for not backing Christie’s re-election bid.


Christie’s office has said the governor doesn’t involve himself with traffic studies and a spokesman for his campaign previously dismissed the claims as “crazy.”


For his part, Foye ordered the lanes reopened in an angry email sent to top agency officials, according to the message obtained by the Wall Street Journal. Foye has since said the matter was subject of an internal review.


The subpoena also demands a slew of records, including correspondence involving Baroni, Wildstein, Christie and any administration officials, and records to support claims made about the traffic study at Monday’s hearing.


“We need to know whether this was incompetence or political mischief by political appointees,” Wisniewski said.

Editor's Note: The subpoena and related documents are attached to this article in PDF format 


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