New Port Authority chief appointed by Hochul was state's prior director of operations

Gov. Kathy Hochul has tapped one of her top aides to oversee much of the state's transportation infrastructure, including airports, bridges and tunnels. 

Kathryn Garcia, the director of state operations, has been named the next executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the governor announced in a news release Tuesday. Garcia, who in her current role oversees more than 70 state agencies, including the Port Authority, will succeed Rick Cotton, who announced last month plans to retire in January.

Garcia previously served New York City as chief operating officer of the Department of Environmental Protection and as sanitation commissioner. Next year, she will take the reins of the ongoing $19 billion reimagining of Kennedy Airport, which is expected to include the openings of two terminals next year.

Hochul said in a statement she is “incredibly grateful to have had Kathryn Garcia serve” as director of state operations for more than four years, “during which time she helped us transform New York for the better.” 

“Kathryn helped us launch and advance generational infrastructure projects and rebuild our economy following the pandemic with an eye toward the future,” the governor added. 

Garcia said serving Hochul in her present role has been “the honor of a lifetime.” Prior to her appointment in 2021, Garcia ran for mayor, but lost the Democratic primary to Mayor Eric Adams.

“I’m enormously proud of what we have accomplished over the last four years: 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,” Garcia added.

During his tenure, Cotton oversaw yearslong projects that cost billions, including the construction of Terminal B and Terminal C at LaGuardia Airport as well as Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport, Newsday previously reported. He described Garcia as “a superb choice” to inherit his duties.

“She has deep knowledge of city and state government combined with extraordinary insight and judgment and a collaborative spirit,” Cotton said in a statement.

Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Operations Commissioner Jackie Bray will fill Garcia’s role as director of state operations.