Scissura Calls Port Authority Head Cotton “Infrastructure Czar” Ahead of Retirement

Long-time Port Authority head Rick Cotton, who led major NYC airport renovations, will step down in January

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.

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.”

Read more in amNY here.