Rick Cotton, who has led the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for nearly a decade, announced on Monday that he will retire come January.
Cotton, 81, has been Port Authority’s executive director since 2017 — serving the longest of anyone in that position since the 1940s, according to the agency. During his tenure, Cotton has overseen major infrastructure projects at all three New York City-area airports, including the rebuilding of LaGuardia Airport; the construction of a new terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport; and the start of redevelopment at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
His successor will be revealed “in due course,” and will work with Cotton on transitioning into the role, the agency said.
Cotton, in a statement, said that he and Port Authority Chair Kevin O’Toole have together made “historic progress” during their tenures toward building “world-class” transportation infrastructure for the region.
“Since 2017, I have devoted all my energy to this profoundly important work. It has been enormously rewarding — and exhausting. But nothing is forever,” he said. “With the immense progress that we have made and the completion last week of our proposed new 10-year capital plan — which will fund the agency’s ambitious agenda through 2035 — it is simply time to hand over the reins, and I will do so in January.”
Cotton was appointed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and re-appointed by current Gov. Kathy Hochul when she took office in 2021.
“Rick took on one of the toughest public-service jobs in America and delivered extraordinary results,” Hochul said in a statement. “His leadership rebuilt public confidence in our capacity to deliver world-class infrastructure. The Port Authority today is stronger and more resilient than ever, and his impact will be felt for generations.”
Under Cotton’s leadership, the agency undertook a $50 billion effort to modernize the region’s three airports. That includes the completed $8 billion rebuild of LaGuardia Airport, the opening of Liberty’s new Terminal A, and the $19 billion reconstruction of JFK’s Terminals 1 through 6.
LaGuardia — once considered one of the country’s worst airports before its reconstruction, dubbed by then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2014 as a “third world” facility — was named the best airport in America this year by Forbes Magazine in March.
Cotton also jump-started the overhaul of the dilapidated Midtown Bus Terminal — commonly known as the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The $10 billion project broke ground in May.
Furthermore, Cotton counts improving the agency’s efficiency, transparency, internal governance, and collaboration between the two states that co-run it among the accomplishments of his tenure.
He also oversaw the agency during the COVID-19 pandemic — a time when air travel plummeted, and airlines suffered major losses.
Carlo Scissura, president and CEO of the New York Building Congress, praised Cotton as building more of the metropolitan area than “most human beings, short of Robert Moses.”
“He’s a titan of our industry, an infrastructure czar, and, personally, a mentor to me,” Scissura said in a statement. “He leaves behind a legacy of taking our airports from worst to first, securing our shores, and building a better-connected Port Authority region.”
