Port Authority to get $7B for improvements

Board members approved a $7 billion budget for the Port Authority yesterday, brushing aside complaints by commuters that too much of the money is going to build the new World Trade Center and not enough to make bridge and tunnel improvements.

The total budget is $70 million lower than in 2011, but the World Trade Center dominates it. More than half the $3.6 billion capital budget is going toward the complex of buildings in lower Manhattan, including its signature tower and a rail station.

Under pressure to rein in spending, board members yesterday said the agency would post on its website beginning today the names and salaries of every employee and also would report overtime costs quarterly to the New Jersey and New York governments.

Officials said the move would help expose waste.

"What you can measure, you can manage," said Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority.

Commuters were outraged when the Port Authority increased bridge and tunnel tolls in September, leading to a lawsuit by the AAA motorists' club.

The two sides argued their case yesterday in a federal court in Manhattan, but no ruling was made.

The toll increase also prompted the governors of New York and New Jersey to order an outside audit of the agency. The budget passed yesterday is considered temporary until auditors finish that review, chief financial officer Michael Fabiano said.

Board members passed it unanimously.

About $2 billion of the capital budget will go toward the World Trade Center.

The next biggest chunk, $402 million, goes to construction at the Lincoln Tunnel. The Port Authority says it needs to overhaul the tunnel's helix, a corkscrew entrance ramp on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River.

An additional $259 million will go toward the Port Authority Trans Hudson train system, where crews are working to fortify tunnels against a possible terrorist attack.