Work Hard, Play Hard at One World Trade Center

Posted on February 28, 2017 by PANYNJ PORTfolio

By Steve Coleman, Media Relations Staff

It’s no secret that the iconic One World Trade Center is home to some of the hardest-charging professionals in the publishing, financial and technology worlds – everyone from Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and thousands of her colleagues at Conde Nast publications to the brilliant mathematicians and software engineers at High 5 Games.

Where do they go to escape their stress-filled workdays?  There’s a new playground they can call their own in the 1,776-story tower.

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View from One World Commons on the 64th floor of One WTC                 Photo by Lenis Rodrigues

Recently, the Durst Organization and the Port Authority opened One World Commons on the tower’s 64th floor, an eclectic mix of programming and resources for tenants of One WTC and their guests.  The common area occupies 25,000 square feet of the 31,288 square foot floor.  Five thousand additional square feet are being reserved for a reception area.

Looking to socialize over a quick cup of coffee?  Check.  How about a round of pool, table tennis or video games? Check.  Or maybe a wellness class or a Yoga program during lunch?  Check. Topping it off is perhaps the most appealing feature of the new space:  the incredible view of the New York City skyline.

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The space includes a café featuring a coffee bar and “grab and go” food and beverages.  There’s also a state-of-the-art multi-purpose meeting room, flexibly designed to accommodate a variety of large corporate events, town-hall sessions, and daytime and nighttime social events.

“One World Trade Center is already a special address among the world’s most pre-eminent office buildings,” said Beth Wolfowitz, the Port Authority’s Director of Leasing and Development for the World Trade Center Redevelopment Department.

“A special address needs a special place for its tenants,” Wolfowitz said, “We’re convinced this new amenity will be the talk of the town and one of the most well-known spaces of any commercial building in the city.”

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Norwegian Airlines Puts the “International” in Stewart Airport

Posted on February 24, 2017 by PANYNJ PORTfolio

By Cheryl Albiez and Roz Hamlett, Media Relations Staff

Historic is a word often associated with the rollout of new Port Authority facilities and services, whether it’s the redevelopment of LaGuardia Airport or construction of a brand-new Goethals Bridge.

Yesterday, history traveled north to Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., as Norwegian Air announced it would begin a series of daily flights to Ireland and Scotland – truly putting the “international” in the airport’s name.

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Port Authority Aviation Director Huntley Lawrence (left) and Executive Director Pat Foye (right) join the celebratory procession as Norwegian Air inaugurates daily flights to Ireland and Scotland from Stewart International Airport.

Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye and Ed Harrison, Stewart’s General Manager, applauded the Norwegian announcement as the start of a new era for the airport, which the Port Authority acquired in 2007.

“It’s not an overstatement to say this is an historic day for Stewart Airport,” Foye said. “This is an incredible achievement, and we thank our partners from Norwegian Air.” Harrison noted that, “with Norwegian Air’s nonstop transatlantic commercial flights, we are genuinely an international airport now.”

Norwegian’s daily schedule doesn’t launch until June, but the impact of its announcement was immediate. Within the first hour, Norwegian officials confirmed they had already booked 2,500 flights and that number soon jumped to 4,000, underscoring the public interest in international flights from Stewart.

It’s that potential that led to the Port Authority-Stewart Airport marriage a decade ago. Strategically located a little more than an hour north of New York City, the one-time Air Force base has proven to be an important asset in the Port Authority’s airport system. Through the end of 2016, the agency’s total investment of about $175 million in spending on the airport and customer service.

Huntley Lawrence, the Port Authority’s Director of Aviation, credited “a combination of our investments in aviation infrastructure and the hard work of the Airport Services Group” for many of the gains made at Stewart.

One of the largest employers in the Hudson Valley, Stewart has about 2,700 workers and generates $450 million in annual economic activity. With the addition of Norwegian Air routes, the estimated total economic impact is expected to result in the creation of a total of 230 jobs, $13 million in total wages and $36 million in overall economic activity.

Signs of growth and progress abound. Last year, Allegiant Airlines launched seasonal service from Stewart to Myrtle Beach and plans on adding flights this year, while expanding the flight season on both ends.

On the cargo side of the operations, the airport experienced an increase in tonnage handled at the airport of 23.7 percent in 2016, due primarily to a surge in shipments by FedEx. DHL is investing nearly a half-million dollars in renovations and will begin operations in the coming months, while adding 30 new jobs. The general aviation sector – the private, corporate and charter flights that make up the bulk of traffic at Stewart – is also posting solid growth.

“We may be a small airport,” Harrison said, “but now everyone can see our enormous potential.”

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Elevated Roadway Writes New Chapter in Bayonne Bridge History

Posted on February 21, 2017 by PANYNJ PORTfolio

By Neal Buccino, Media Relations Staff

To a triumphant chorus of honking horns at 5 a.m. yesterday, the first passenger cars from New York and New Jersey drove over the new, elevated roadway of the Bayonne Bridge, 215 feet above the Kill van Kull and 64 feet above the original bridge deck.

It was part of the Port Authority’s “Raise the Roadway” initiative to provide navigational clearance for larger container vessels now using the expanded Panama Canal that are expected to arrive at all agency port facilities later this year. And it’s a giant leap into the 21st century for an 85-year-old icon of beauty and strength in engineering.

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Steven Plate, the Port Authority’s Chief of Major Projects, congratulates Staten Island resident Francis Cardamone, the first person to drive over the span.  The Port Authority presented Cardamone with a plaque showing how the bridge will look when the “Raise the Roadway” project is complete.

“We’ve made history, for the Port Authority and for the region’s economic growth,” said Steven Plate, the Port Authority’s Chief of Major Capital Projects.

The opening of the new roadway also ushers in a new era for the historic span, as the Bayonne Bridge becomes the first Port Authority facility to go to all-cashless tolling.

The project, a joint venture of the Port Authority and Skanska/Koch/Kiewit Infrastructure Co. (JV), marks an innovative milestone: the construction of a bridge roadway deck above the existing roadway, with limited disruption to traffic on the lower deck.

The roadway opening wasn’t a major milestone only for Port Authority officials and the contracting team. Francis Cardamone, a proud Staten Islander, was the first driver over the new span. For Cardamone, the Bayonne Bridge has long been a source of civic pride, and he showed up at 3 a.m. yesterday to be first in line.

“I really wanted to honor the men and women who made this (new roadway) possible,” Cardamone said.  “It’s a living testament, really, to the engineers who designed the new span and the workers – skilled American labor at its finest — who constructed it.”

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The new structure also maintains the classic steel arch, and the integrity of master bridge builder Othmar Ammann’s original design, which has made the Bayonne Bridge an architectural marvel since it opened as what was then the world’s longest steel arch bridge. Now that traffic has moved to the new span, the original lower roadway will be removed.

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That will make it possible for today’s larger, more efficient and more environmentally friendly container ships to pass beneath the bridge enroute to Port Newark/Elizabeth and Howland Hook. With the recent harbor deepening program and other improvements, it will help ensure the East Coast’s largest port continues to grow as a strong global competitor and job creator.

“This project comes with a tremendous responsibility,” Plate said. “Othmar Ammann was one of the greatest bridge builders of the 20th century and the Bayonne Bridge was his magnum opus. So it’s a bit like restoring the Sistine Chapel.”

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