Port Authorization: Fill & Download for Free

I was on a long flight from Belgium to New York with my wife and two young children. Sitting directly behind us was a group of young GI’s in uniform.The longer the flight went on, the more obnoxious they became - making rude comments, kicking and pushing our seats, intentionally trying to get our kids to act up. It didn’t help that a particular flight attendant was further encouraging them by flirting with them and illegally giving them whole bottles of wine from first class. I don’t mean those little in-flight bottles. I mean regular wine bottles.We asked them to cut the crap numerous times to no avail. The attendant was also no help.Unbeknownst to them all, my wife was an attorney, who had represented a number of New York Port Authority police. As we approached NY, she made an in-flight call.As we entered the terminal from the plane’s gateway, we were met by six Port Authority police and two MP’s, who asked us to point out the offenders. One MP said to the group, “We can do this with cuffs or without, your choice.”I don’t actually know what happened to them, as we were sent on our way and told that we would be called if needed. We never heard about it again.As far as I was concerned, the Port police and MPs meeting them at deplaning was enough.

The SettingHere's a zoomed-in map of the approaches to the George Washington Bridge (GWB). The intersection of Bruce Reynolds Boulevard and Martha Washington Way/Park Ave [red box] leads to a sharp right turn just shy of the toll plaza that marks the GWB's New Jersey terminus:If we zoom in still further, the ever-helpful Google maps shows, just barely, the three dedicated lanes [red box] that Fort Lee has into the GWB tolls and the cones that block them off from traffic feeding in from I-95/US-1/US-9:As Wikipedia helpfully explains:There are a total of 29 operating toll lanes, spread among three toll plazas.[12][13][14][15] At the main toll plaza for the upper level, there are twelve toll lanes, of which three are ordinarily reserved through the use of traffic cones, for safe traffic flow, for access from the Fort Lee entrance at the intersection of Martha Washington Way (also called Park Avenue) and Bruce Reynolds Boulevard during the morning rush hour.[16][17]Source: Fort Lee lane closure scandalThe "traffic study"Over the course of the early morning hours leading up to rush hour, these cones were repositioned so that Fort Lee only had one of its usual three lanes available. This resulted in significant traffic build-up through the town of Fort Lee, while traffic likely was eased onto and across the bridge itself, due to a lower input flow from the usual Fort Lee sources.The closures were kept in place for four days, from 9-13 September 2013, when the head of the Port Authority ordered the lanes to be restored to the Fort Lee on-ramp.The Port Authority is an unusual organization, as a relic of the power struggle between NY Governor Nelson Rockefeller and NYC transportation power broker Robert Moses in the late '60s. The head is traditionally appointed by the NY Governor, while the deputy is appointed by the NJ Governor. Until the closures attracted attention, the NY appointee seems to have been kept out of the loop by NJ political operatives.The investigationsThe first legislative investigation was opened by Assemblyman John Wisniewski, deputy speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly and recent head of the NJ Democratic Party (until June 2013) on 2 October 2013. The head NJ Port Authority appointee, former state Senator Bill Baroni, testified upon legislative invitation rather than being compelled by a subpoena and not under oath. However, David Wildstein, the key appointee who ordered Port Authority engineers to plan and implement the lane closings, skipped the hearing and shortly thereafter resigned his position.Since then, various documents related to the lane closures have been subpoenaed by Wisniewski. Following New Years' but before Wisniewski gives up his position as chair of the Transportation Committee with the start of the new legislative session at the end of January, these documents were turned over to the New York Times and eventually greater press distribution, which has caused coverage of the scandal to explode to national proportions.Various Christie appointees have resigned so far:David Wildstein, Port Authority director of Interstate Capital Projectsformer Sen. Bill Baroni, Port Authority Deputy Executive Director (top NJ appointee)Bridget Kelly, Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affiars (fired)Bill Stepien, former Christie campaign manager (2009 and 2013), former Deputy Chief of Staff; recently named nominee (hadn't been confirmed) to Chairman of the NJ Republican Party (withdrawn from consideration) and consultant to the Republican Governors' AssociationThere are also various lawsuits pending against the Christie administration and several of the departed staffers, as well as a recently opened US Attorney's investigation.

Around 6:05 AM, 50 year old me wakes up, gets some coffee and realizes what’s going to go down. I immediately ring up NY port authority and say that 2 commercial jets are going to fly into the twin towers. I then call 911 for my area and alert them of the disaster going to go down before calling NY state police, telling them the same thing as the port authority. I then call NYPD and NY sheriffs department to give them a detailed time, flight number, type of plane, and company before calling the fire department and local private ambulance services. I’d watch TV before calling local news to alert them and to go to the twin towers.