The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) Board of Commissioners has approved the agency’s acquisition of full ownership of the Howland Hook Marine Terminal.
In return for possession of Howland Hook, the city will take over the Port Authority’s half-ownership position in the Brooklyn Port Authority Marine Terminal at Red Hook, giving the city complete ownership of the site and allowing it to redesign the waterfront.
The Port Authority will reportedly get possession of all 345 acres of Staten Island’s Howland Hook Marine Terminal when the city transfers ownership of 225 acres.
Full ownership will allow the agency and its private partners to prepare together for the future.
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The agreement gives New York City complete responsibility over the Brooklyn-Port Authority Marine Terminal, which spans 124 acres on the Red Hook waterfront and Columbia Street Waterfront District.
The Brooklyn facility’s cargo handling usage has decreased in recent decades due to space and transportation constraints, such as insufficient roadway and rail access, limited storage areas, and the shipping industry’s emphasis on larger vessels that cannot be handled at the existing Brooklyn berths.
Currently, the marine terminal handles less than 1 per cent of the containerised cargo volume at the Port of New York and New Jersey.
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Port Authority Chairman, Kevin O’Toole, said: “Our strategic investment in the Port of New York and New Jersey and our guidance to its stakeholders have made our gateway the second-busiest port in the country, meeting unprecedented shipping demands during unforeseeable events like a global health crisis.”
Port Authority Executive Director, Rick Cotton, stated: “Today’s board action is a win-win-win: it benefits the region, the City of New York, and the Port Authority.
“By strengthening our Howland Hook Marine Terminal through this transaction, we are driving forward one of the fundamental strategic imperatives of the Port Authority, which is the vitality of our ocean-going cargo container supply lines.”
