By Amanda Kwan, Media Relations Staff

Just in time for a staycation over the Labor Day holiday weekend, the Port Authority is reopening a newly revamped park and restoring continuous public access to Jersey City’s Hudson River Waterfront Walkway for the first time in more than five years.

This Thursday at 9 a.m., a stretch of the walkway about 182 feet long and the 10,000-square-foot park will fully reopen to the public as the Port Authority completes a 5-year replacement of the decaying Pier 9 that provided access to a Holland Tunnel ventilation building in the city’s Newport section. The reopening of the public areas caps the pier replacement work and restores continuous public access to the walkway. During construction, which demolished the 88-year-old timber pier and replaced it with a durable concrete and steel structure, pedestrians had to detour onto River Drive.

“We are thrilled to return much-needed green space back to the community in better condition than when it closed for the pier project,” said Enrique Ramirez, general manager of the Holland Tunnel. “We thank Jersey City and Newport Associates Development Company for their cooperation and patience while we completed this critical project, which helps us maintain the Holland Tunnel and ensure that millions of motorists can breathe easier as they drive through the facility.”

The project, completed a year ahead of schedule and under budget, began in September 2014 with the demolition of the original timber pier built in 1926 as part of the construction of the Holland Tunnel. Pier 9 provides maintenance and emergency access to the New Jersey River Ventilation Building, one of the tunnel’s four ventilation shafts that house fans blowing fresh air into the tunnel.

Altogether, 84 fans in the four ventilation buildings can replace all of the air inside the Holland Tunnel every 90 seconds. Replacement of the pier was hastened by increased deterioration caused by marine wildlife. The new concrete and steel pier is expected to remain in good condition for at least 50 more years.

“The pier replacement was a historic undertaking, because we were removing a structure that dates back to the construction of the Holland Tunnel itself,” said Louis Post, a member of the project team. “The pier provides access to maintain Holland’s ventilation system, which was the world’s first mechanically ventilated system in an underwater vehicular tunnel. It is part of a groundbreaking feat of engineering that is still used in tunnels around the world.”   

As part of the replacement project, the Port Authority also renewed and beautified the public space adjacent to the pier, which remains inaccessible to the public for security reasons, as it was previously. A portion of the waterfront walkway was replaced by new lighting, benches and fencing. Public safety features such as anti-vehicle bollards and security cameras were installed. New and enhanced landscaping also was added throughout, including in the public park that had been partially closed during construction. The entire project was estimated at $94.6 million, but the final cost was $86 million.

Over the course of the project, an adjacent section of the walkway north of Pier 9 was also closed due to construction of the nearby Ellipse residential development, creating a four-block detour of the waterfront path onto River Drive. With unrelated nearby construction also complete, the restoration of the walkway by Pier 9 will provide uninterrupted views of the Hudson River and the New York skyline for thousands of pedestrians clamoring for more public outdoor spaces during a global pandemic that has closed most indoor spaces.

All photos by Port Authority of New York and New Jersey:

Story by Amanda Kwan, photos by Rudy King, Media Relations Staff

Like anxious parents, operations staff at the Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT) have been waiting to find out whether and when students will return to classrooms after Labor Day. Kids in school will mean parents increasingly can return to offices – and something closer to their pre-pandemic work commute.

For the PABT, that means preparing for a new normal. With public safety as its top priority, the Port Authority is taking measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and assure passengers their commutes are as safe as possible, with new amenities to make commutes more accommodating.

“We’ve been working hard to get to this point. Our staff, our retailers and all of our bus terminal partners are using industry best practices, guidance from health officials and new technology to remind passengers that public transportation is still one of the safest ways to commute,” said Mark Schaff, general manager of the bus terminal.

Commuters who haven’t traveled through the facility since March will see changes. First and foremost, face coverings are now required and must be worn properly, covering both the nose and mouth, and kept on for the duration of the passengers’ time in the facility.

At the PABT, face coverings and hand sanitizers are available for purchase at four retailers: Hudson News, Duane Reade, HS Cell Phone, and Jay’s Hallmark. PABT is the nation’s largest and busiest bus terminal, so keeping a safe distance between customers may not always be possible. That means strict adherence to face coverings is particularly important.

In July, terminal officials distributed masks to commuters needing required face coverings and are planning for a second mask-distribution program. While wearing a face covering is the responsibility of customers, PABT is stepping up everywhere else: enhanced cleaning of high-touch points such as handrails, doors, buttons, screens and seats; thorough overnight cleanings of bathrooms and floors, and 15 new hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the terminal.

“We’re deep-cleaning bathrooms and increasing the frequency of disinfection of high-touch points because those are areas where passengers have a lot of anxiety about making contact,” said Kirsten Jones, supervisor of customer experience at PABT. “We want to allay those concerns so that passengers can feel confident using the bus terminal.”

PABT is also trying new technology, such as UV-lights to sterilize escalator handrails. The technology is also being tested in a Port Authority-wide pilot program that includes escalators at Newark Liberty and LaGuardia airports. Hidden from the public, it has been proven effective against the coronavirus by focusing germ-killing ultraviolet light on the width and sides of the handrail as it passes through the handrail balustrade enclosure.

As ridership returns, customers can expect some familiar – and new – services to make their commutes more comfortable. New Jersey Transit is now staffing its customer service windows, and various bus carriers plan to modify service at as demand grows. PABT also is welcoming two new retailers as a sign of confidence in the region’s economic recovery, adding to the 17 businesses that have already reopened.

With passengers starting to readjust after months at home, PABT will also be making changes to align with ridership and monitoring operations closely. These will include new signage and updated announcements reinforcing face covering requirements and other public health best practices. Port Authority police officers are ready to educate visitors – or remind commuters – of the new rules of commuting safely.

All the signs are clear: Welcome back to the PABT.

By Tom Topousis, Media Relations Staff

The iconic Apple Fence that amused passengers at LaGuardia Airport’s old Central Terminal Building for almost 30 years was a labor of love for Dominick DaSilva – not just once, but twice.

As a recent college graduate in 1992, DaSilva was responsible for building and installing the fence as a Port Authority public art project. Nearly three decades years later while working for the contractor building a new Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport, he had the job of saving it.

The Apple Fence, originally measuring 3,000 linear feet – or the length of 30 football fields – is in fact the only piece of the old Central Terminal Building that will be preserved and used in a new, and as of yet, undetermined public role. About 2,000 linear feet of the fence has been preserved and will be stored at a Port Authority facility at JFK until new installations for the fence can be determined.

The opening of the new Terminal B Arrivals and Departures Hall on June 13 clears the way for demolition of the Central Terminal Building, which is currently underway and should be complete early next year.

DaSilva, an Assistant Project Manager at Skanska who has been working on the new Terminal B, reflected on his role in both building and installing the Apple Fence and dismantling it for its preservation and reuse in the future at another site or facility.

“The Apple Fence at LaGuardia Airport was the first big project I worked on after graduating from college. In 1992, working with the designer, David Saunders, we manufactured and installed about 3,000 linear feet of steel and it became the talk of the town,” DaSilva recalled.

“The fence was all over the news and you could see why — it was beautiful. The reaction of the passengers flying through LaGuardia was amazing,” he said. Saunders, a New York artist, won a competition that was part of the Port Authority’s public arts program.

“As a 20-something, I would never have imagined I’d find myself working with Skanska 28 years later on that fence, my baby,” DaSilva said. “I’ve flown through the airport countless times and told anyone I could: ‘There it is, I did that, I built that.’ To work on the iconic Apple Fence, not once, but twice, is a tremendous honor.”