Port Authority of NY & NJ announces Executive Director Cotton will retire from agency

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey today announced that Rick Cotton, who has served as the executive director of the Port Authority since August 2017, will retire from the agency in January 2026. A successor is expected to be announced in due course and will work closely with Cotton to ensure a smooth transition.

Cotton’s distinguished 8½ year tenure makes him the longest serving executive director of the Port Authority since the 1940s. Under the leadership of Cotton and Chairman Kevin O’Toole, the agency has delivered an unprecedented wave of renewal and institutional reform, while successfully navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and one of the most difficult operating environments in its history. The Port Authority today is a revitalized, high-performing agency with a clear mandate, a disciplined operating culture, and a transformative, forward-looking capital plan.

Cotton said, “From the moment Chairman O’Toole and I stepped into these roles in 2017, we shared a simple conviction: this region deserves world-class infrastructure equal to its people and its promise. Working in partnership across two states, political lines, and every corner of this agency, we have made historic progress toward that goal. Together, we transformed our airports from appalling laughingstocks into award-winning, best-in-class gateways, and jumpstarted the Midtown Bus Terminal, which had languished for decades. The foundation is now set for future generations to keep building a stronger, more connected region. The opportunity to help transform our facilities and elevate the travel experience for hundreds of millions of people has been deeply satisfying. Since 2017, I have devoted all my energy to this profoundly important work. It has been enormously rewarding — and exhausting. But nothing is forever. 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 continued: “Serving this agency and this region has been the honor of my professional life. I am deeply grateful to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for her unwavering commitment to our ambitious agenda and confirming my appointment as executive director when she assumed the governorship in 2021. I am also grateful to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy for his steadfast support of our collective priorities. I want to especially thank Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole for his enduring partnership and dedication to collaboration and progress. And I also offer my gratitude to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for originally appointing me to the position in 2017.”

“Rick took on one of the toughest public-service jobs in America and delivered extraordinary results,” said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. “LaGuardia’s transformation alone would define a career, but Rick’s impact spans airports, transit systems, bridges, and tunnels, as well as the renewed culture of a more accountable Port Authority. I was proud to work with him on so many critical projects, including the modernizing of the Midtown Bus Terminal and John F. Kennedy International Airport. 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.”

“I am thankful to Rick Cotton for his service to the Port Authority and wish him the best in his future endeavors,” said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. “I am grateful for Rick’s partnership over the past eight years, and for his leadership on several transformative transportation and infrastructure projects that will benefit our region for decades to come.”

“Rick has been the driving force behind the Port Authority’s resurgence as a high-performing, modern public agency,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole. “He delivered once-in-a-generation projects that transformed critical transportation assets, strengthened the region's economy, and enhanced connections across New York and New Jersey. And his vision and discipline are embedded in the capital plan that will guide our next decade. Over 40 years in public service, I have never met a more dedicated, disciplined, and focused executive. I am lucky to have forged a strong professional and personal relationship with Rick. We will miss Rick dearly, but his legacy and presence will be felt for many decades to come.”

“As someone who has carefully studied the history of the Port Authority and served on this Board for nearly 15 years, I can say without hesitation that Rick Cotton is one of the finest leaders this agency has ever had,” said Port Authority Vice Chair Jeffrey Lynford. “His clarity, discipline and steady hand guided the Port Authority through some of the most challenging years in its history. Rick brought a level of integrity and purpose that strengthened this institution from the inside out. Rick elevated the Port Authority’s standards, restored trust in its mission, and inspired all of us who served alongside him. It has been a true honor to work with him.”

Key highlights of Cotton’s and O’Toole’s tenure include:

• Reimagined the region’s airports with a $50 billion transformation program — the largest in agency history — delivering a new LaGuardia, Newark Liberty’s award-winning Terminal A, and launching the full rebuild of JFK.

• Rebuilt LaGuardia from the ground up, replacing the nation’s most outdated airport with a unified, world-class facility, delivered through an $8 billion public-private partnership (with the airport fully operational throughout construction) and recognized with multiple prestigious awards, including being named best airport in the U.S. by Forbes Travel Guide in 2024 and 2025.
• Opened Newark Liberty’s new Terminal A, a five-star, next generation gateway — which was named Best New Airport Terminal in the World in 2024 by preeminent global airport evaluation firm Skytrax — while breaking ground on the new AirTrain Newark and delivering a funded blueprint to transform the entire airport, including a new Terminal B and rebuilt roadway network.
• Set the new JFK fully in motion, with a $19 billion rebuild including best-in-class, privately financed terminals 1 and 6 under construction, a complete rebuild and simplification of the roadways more than halfway complete, and multi-billion investments in expansion and modernization of existing terminals.
• Refocused the agency around customer experience, driving stellar third-party customer recognition through new beloved local concessions, riveting public art, a distinctly New York and New Jersey sense of place, upgraded facilities for taxi and for-hire vehicle drivers, real-time digital tools, and a consistently higher standard of airport service.

• Moved the long-stalled Midtown Bus Terminal replacement into construction, securing all approvals and beginning work on a $11 billion community-supported project after decades of paralysis.
• Revitalized the World Trade Center campus, opening 3 WTC, the Perelman Performing Arts Center and the St. Nicholas Church and National Shrine, while bringing the site to life through events, activations, and public art.
• Elevated the Port of New York and New Jersey to the nation’s second-busiest, maintaining fluid operations through the COVID supply-chain crisis, and expanding capacity through harbor deepening and intermodal rail enhancements.
• Invested billions of dollars to modernize PATH’s aging infrastructure, including major track replacement, establishment of 9-car train service, 20 percent expansion of the rail car fleet, and rebuilding and renovations of stations.
• Built the largest PAPD force in agency history and strengthened cybersecurity capabilities to meet rising safety and digital security demands across critical regional infrastructure.
• Achieved historic milestones in minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBE) participation, including $2.3 billion at LaGuardia and $3 billion at JFK — both New York state records — expanding opportunity for diverse firms at unprecedented scale.
• Advanced sustainability leadership, becoming the first U.S. transportation agency to adopt Paris climate accords in 2018, launch a roadmap to net-zero emissions, expand clean-energy and electrification programs, and introduce pioneering emissions-reduction initiatives across airports, the seaport and rail.
• Launched the agency’s employee innovation hub, piloting emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicle and electric air taxi deployment and industrial use cases for artificial intelligence, while investing in technology to deliver real-time security and customs wait times at the airports, fast and free Wi-Fi at Port Authority airports, cell service and countdown clocks in PATH stations.
• Modernized the agency, improving efficiency, transparency, governance, and cross-state coordination, while strengthening the employee experience and building a high-expectation, high-performance culture.
• Issued the Port Authority’s record $45 billion proposed 2026–2035 Capital Plan, setting the blueprint for the next decade of ambition and advancing a suite of generational projects, including completion of the new JFK and Newark Liberty airports as well as the new Midtown Bus Terminal, among many others.

In 2025, Cotton received the Citizen Budget Commission’s Felix G. Rohatyn Award, which “honors an individual whose career exemplifies its namesake’s commitment to public service and New York’s sound fiscal management.” In 2021, Cotton was honored with the Regional Plan Association’s Zuccotti Award, its highest award, recognizing “a leader who has made extraordinary contributions to the built environment in the tri-state metropolitan region.”