New Jersey § 32:1-35

§ 32:1-35.

The States of New York and New Jersey hereby find and determine: (1) that the transportation of persons to, from and within the Port of New York, and

the flow of foreign and domestic cargoes to, from and through the Port of New York

are vital and essential to the preservation of the economic well-being of the northern

New Jersey-New York metropolitan area; (2) that in order to preserve the northern New Jersey-New York metropolitan area from

economic deterioration, adequate facilities for the transportation of persons must

be provided, preserved and maintained and that rail services are and will remain of

extreme importance to such transportation of persons; (3) that the interurban electric railway now or heretofore operated by the Hudson

& Manhattan Railroad Company is an essential railroad facility serving the northern

New Jersey-New York metropolitan area, that its physical plant is in a severely deteriorated

condition, and that it is in extreme financial condition; (4) that the immediate need for the maintenance and development of adequate railroad

facilities for the transportation of persons between northern New Jersey and New York

would be met by the acquisition, rehabilitation and operation of the said Hudson &

Manhattan interurban electric railway by a public agency, and improvement and extensions

of the rail transit lines of said railway to permit transfer of its passengers to

and from other transportation facilities and in the provision of transfer facilities

at the points of such transfers; (5) that in order to preserve and protect the position of the Port of New York as

the nation's leading gateway for world commerce it is incumbent on the States of New

York and New Jersey to make every effort to insure that their port receives its rightful

share of the oceanborne cargo volumes generated by the economy of the nation; (6) that the servicing functions and activities connected with the oceanborne and

overseas airborne trade and commerce of the Port of New York District, as defined

in the compact between the said 2 States dated April 30, 1921, (hereinafter called

the port district), 1 including customs clearance, shipping negotiations, cargo routing, freight forwarding,

financing, insurance arrangements and other similar transactions which are presently

performed in various, scattered locations in the city of New York, State of New York,

should be centralized to provide for more efficient and economical transportation

of persons and more efficient and economical facilities for the exchange and buying,

selling and transportation of commodities and other property in world trade and commerce; (7) that unification, at a single, centrally located site, of the principal New York

terminal of the aforesaid interurban electric railway and a facility of commerce accommodating

the said functions and activities described in subdivision 6 of this section and the

appropriate governmental, administrative and other services connected with or incidental

to transportation of persons and property and the promotion and protection of port

commerce, and providing a central locale for exhibiting and otherwise promoting the

exchange and buying and selling of commodities and property in world trade and commerce,

will materially assist in preserving for the 2 States and the people thereof the material

and other benefits of a prosperous port community; (8) that the Port of New York Authority (hereinafter called the port authority), which

was created by agreement of the 2 States as their joint agent for the development

of the transportation and terminal facilities and other facilities of commerce of

the port district and for the promotion and protection of the commerce of their port,

is the proper agency to act in their behalf (either directly or by or through wholly-owned

subsidiary corporations) to effectuate, as a unified project, the said interurban

electric railway and its extensions and the facility of commerce described in subdivision

7 of this section; and (9) that the undertaking of the aforesaid unified project by the port authority has

the single object of preserving, and is part of a unified plan to aid in the preservation

of, the economic well-being of the northern New Jersey-New York metropolitan area

and is found and determined to be in the public interest. 1

N.J.S.A. §§ 32:1-1 to 32:1-24; McKinney's Unconsol.Laws §§ 6401 to 6423.