Joseph Seymour became executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in December 2001, two months after his predecessor, Neil Levin, was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Seymour has led the Authority in what has, undoubtedly, been the saddest and most challenging period in its 82-year history. Hundreds of PA employees were lost in the terrorist attacks, as was the PA's headquarters in the World Trade Center, which, of course, is owned by the Authority. In addition, the PA's PATH train station under the WTC was destroyed and service between lower Manhattan and Exchange Place in Jersey City was completely knocked out.

Yet the Port Authority during this period has remained vibrant, vital and forward looking.

It has competed the $1.2 billion AirTrain service to John F. Kennedy International Airport. It has also made vast strides toward restoring the PATH line into lower Manhattan, a $544 million project that is scheduled for completion in November, and it is proceeding with the expansion and modernization of port facilities in Newark and Elizabeth, N.J and Howland Hooks, Staten Island. It is for these and numerous smaller accomplishments that New York Construction News has named the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, "Owner and Developer of the Year."

Seymour's skillful leadership of the PA during this unprecedented period comes as no surprise. He has more than 30 years experience in New York State and local government. He has serviced as chairman and CEO of the New York Power Authority, as the New York State Commissioner of General Services, and as executive deputy commissioner of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

In conjunction with the naming of the PA as "Owner and Developer of the Year," Seymour recently spoke with Dan Friedman, editor-in-chief of New York Construction News. An edited transcript of their conversation follows.

FRIEDMAN: Despite the unprecedented loss of life and property that took place on September 11, 2001, the Port Authority in 2002 invested $1.5 billion in capital projects, a single-year record. Given all financial, physical and emotional stress of this period, how was the Authority able to come back stronger than ever?

SEYMOUR: There are a number of reasons, some are very positive and some are unfortunate.

Positively, we had a lot of projects in the pipeline and we were able to maintain our revenues through the tunnels, bridges and airports. We've also utilized outside consultants more as an adjunct to our staff. Instead of us doing all the engineering in-house, we've looked to engineers from outside firms to help us develop our plans and specifications.

Unfortunately, a lot of the money that we are spending is recovery money from 9/11. In particular, we've had to do a design-build project to restore the PATH (from Jersey City to lower Manhattan) as soon as possible. A lot of credit for that project has to go to Gov. (George) Pataki (of New York) and Gov. (James) McGreevey (of New Jersey), and to our former chairman, Jack Sinagra and to Vice-Chair Charles Gargano. They gave us all the support that we needed to be able to very quickly muster the federal resources and approve the construction contracts necessary to start the reconstruction of the PATH.

We are anticipating opening the PATH in late November, a month ahead of schedule. When you look back at the disaster, it's really quite remarkable how we've been able to muster the financing and the forces.

FRIEDMAN: It is. This morning I was down at the PATH station talking with John Kolaya and James Strobel of Yonkers Contracting Co. Inc., which is the managing partner in the tri-venture with Tully Construction Co. Inc. and A.J. Pegno Construction Co. that is doing the PATH work. They gave me a tour of the site. It's very impressive what you have been able to build so quickly.

SEYMOUR: And its more than just the substation and the terminal and tracks. It's also the complete rebuilding of the guts, if you will, of the tunnels that go to Exchange Place in Jersey City-all new tracks, signalization, electronics and conduits.

FRIEDMAN: One of the things they mentioned which sounded very challenging is that the project began with a completion date but no plans.

SEYMOUR: This has been design-build and that is to the credit of our engineers, Frank Lombardi, Jack Spencer, Tony Cracchiolo, Peter Rinaldi. It's also a credit to private industry. Yonkers, Tully, Pegno and many others, these guys have really stepped up. They're working 16 hours a day, 6 days a week and they have really moved this thing forward. We feel very comforted and fortunate that we have so many qualified firms in the New York region.

When you have tens of thousands of people a day using that line and you sever it, it has a profound impact on both sides of the river, Jersey City and on New York City. We are very pleased with the progress we made to date restoring this vital transportation link.

FRIEDMAN: There are some folks who are saying that the process of rebuilding on the World Trade Center site seems to be backwards, that the architectural designs and a monument are being put together before it is clear who controls the site and who has the right to build on the site. I wonder what you think about how the process is going?

SEYMOUR: I think it is going very well. We have had a tremendous amount of public input. We had this out on the stage for an entire year for everybody to comment on.
We have a site plan now and a land use plan and a transportation plan. Those are the critical elements. When you go to do the rebuilding you have to know what uses the various parcels of the land are going to be assigned. We know where the memorial parcel is; we know where the commercial development parcels are; we know that there will be a Fulton Street and a Greenwich Street. Those critical planning components had to be decided. We know the density of the site. We know the components of the memorial. The memorial design is now in process through the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. We're starting the environmental process for the permanent PATH station and breaking the bathtub wall. We're also going to start the environmental process for the commercial development and the memorial development.

I don't quite understand the criticism about the process being done backwards. The ownership is clear. At this time, the Port Authority owns the land, and Larry Silverstein has a very long-term lease on the land.

FRIEDMAN: Are the negotiations for the swap of the airports for the World Trade Center site still going on?

SEYMOUR: They are. We're going down two tracks-the swap or a long-term lease for the airports. There are really three options, a swap, a long-term lease, or no lease at all. Of course, we feel the last option is not realistic and would not be good for the region. Right now the focus in Albany and the focus in New York City is the budget. Once we pass through that we'll be finalizing in which direction we want to go.

But even if there is a swap, the transportation improvements, the restoration of the PATH service, the redevelopment of Greenwich and Fulton streets, the development of the infrastructure in the bathtub, will be completed. Gov. Pataki has made it clear that one of the requirements of the swap is that he wants the new 1776 Freedom Tower developed through insurance proceeds. Of course, if we don't do the swap, then all of the things I mentioned would be done and we would then proceed, as the market dictated, with building out the rest of the site.

Whether it's a swap or a lease won't have any impact on the redevelopment of lower Manhattan.

FRIEDMAN: What impact would it have on the Port Authority? What would be the advantage in owning the airports?

SEYMOUR: Owning the airports would obviously give us the ability to make further capital improvements and allow us to restructure our debt, but so would a long term lease

There are financial nuances to both and those are being negotiated and I really don't want to get into those. We could live with either alternative.

FRIEDMAN: Over the last decade the PA has put an awful lot into renovation the airports. What do you think is the most important work you have done on the airports in recent years?

SEYMOUR: The redevelopment of the airports is always an ongoing endeavor. Sometimes we focus more on one airport than another because the capital improvements are all interrelated. We really did the first AirTrain at Newark. Now that we're finishing up the one at JFK, we'll probably will go back and upgrade Newarks'. Of course, we're also looking to provide a one-seat ride to Newark by extending the PATH to Newark Airport. We're going to start doing the design on that. I'm sure when we complete that design we will have to upgrade the current AirTrain at Newark, to integrate it with the PATH extension.

There is no one single aspect of the airport development that can be separated from the others as more important. There's parking garages, extension of runways, new terminals, at JFK there's the new AirTrain and Terminal 4. Those things are individually important but collectively they are very important.

FRIEDMAN: What about LaGuardia? Is there anything that can be done to connect it to mass transportation?

SEYMOUR: One of the things we are looking at to improve access is to provide ferry service to LaGuardia from lower Manhattan, from the World Financial Center or Pier 11. I think that would be the easiest way to provide a one-seat ride to LaGuardia.

FRIEDMAN: At a recent New York Building Congress breakfast you emphasized the importance of developing the capacity of the ports. Why is the redevelopment and modernization of the ports is so important to the Port Authority and to the region?

SEYMOUR: The ports go unheralded. They don't get the attention of the airports or the George Washington Bridge or the tunnels, but they are an economic catalyst for the entire region. More than 229,000 jobs are created in the metropolitan area by the ports. In addition to that, having the port here keeps the cost of goods much lower in this region.

Even since 9/11, we have witnessed an increased growth rate of cargo capacity in our ports. We have reached the point where we're looking to create an inland distribution network that will be able to move containers to other distribution points, like Albany, New York or Camden, New Jersey, or Providence, Rhode Island.

We are expanding the Howland Hook port. The reason why we are expanding it is twofold. One is that we have been able to obtain easements and right of ways for rail access to the chemical coast (of New Jersey). Two, is that Elizabeth and Newark are running out of space.

The future of the Brooklyn ports is not as clear. Transportation is always in state of flux. Contemporary marine transport is container-based, which means ports need to be intermodal. Ships are filled with containers. Containers are lifted by a crane off the ship and then either go onto the back of a truck or a railcar. That means you have to have extensive transportation facilities and ample storage space to maneuver this operation. When the Brooklyn ports were developed the amount of land necessary for the distribution operation was much smaller. I think we'll see the evolution of the Brooklyn waterfront into different uses as time passes by.

FRIEDMAN: Another big project that is talked about is the "Access-To-The Region's Core," which, if realized, would create a new commuter rail line under the Hudson and perhaps to other rail links. It's currently undergoing a major investment study jointly sponsored by the Port Authority, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, and New Jersey Transit. How important is that project, and how likely is it that it will really happen?

SEYMOUR: The Port Authority's mission is to provide enhanced transportation throughout the region. Transportation means commerce and prosperity. The impact of the Lincoln Tunnel and George Washington Bridge is clear.

The "Access-To-The Region's-Core" as it is currently envisioned would be another passenger rail tunnel that would go from Secaucus (N.J.) to Penn Station. We participated in a scoping study with the MTA and New Jersey Transit. Now we are moving on to the next step, the Environmental Impact Study. I believe that's going to cost around $5 million. An RFP is on the street on that already and it should be complete in late 2005.

That study will look at various alternatives for a new passenger rail tunnel. It will look at questions like: Where would the storage of the cars be? Would they be stored under Penn Station or would it move straight under Manhattan to Sunnyside Queens, where the cars could be stored? Those issues need to be explored. There needs to be cost benefit considerations done. We look forward to finding out those answers and going from there. We think it is a very important project and look forward to participating in it.

FRIEDMAN: It would make a qualitative difference in the number of people who can come into Manhattan to work. The city has been talking about building up the Far West Side; these two projects seem very much in sync.

SEYMOUR: That's right. Presently 20 trains per hour can come into Penn Station. If this is built to the maximum standards, Penn Station could handle 50 trains per hour.

FRIEDMAN: You are working with the MTA and New Jersey Transit on this project. That raises a larger question: what is the nature of the relationships between the Port Authority the other transportation authorities in the region?

SEYMOUR: They're all professionals, and we have the same common interest-to maintain and enhance transportation oppurtunities throughout the region. We work very closely with New Jersey Transit. They are in the same consortium with the EZ Pass. We helped to fund their double-decker cars. It's a good way to double the line's capacity using the same rail.

FRIEDMAN: On what basis did you make the decision to help fund that?

SEYMOUR: That was Gov. McGreevey's decision. There was money from the last fare increase that was allocated for capital improvements to the governors' discretion. Gov. McGreevey wanted that money for the double-decker cars for New Jersey Transit. Similarly, Gov. Pataki has allocated a considerable amount money toward the creation of the Moynihan Station (currently the Farley Post Office), as part of the overall upgrade of the 34th Street transit hub.

FRIEDMAN: In addition to the WTC site, the Port Authority owns other real estate-a legal center in Newark, a teleport on Staten Island, industrial parks in the Bronx and Elizabeth, New Jersey. How much real estate does the PA own and on what basis do you make real estate decisions?

SEYMOUR: Those purchases were made in earlier years. We haven't done any new real estate purchases since the late 80s. Since then we've refined our mission. Our focus is on transportation even though we still own those facilities. I think the most profound and evident example of our refocus on transportation was when we decided to sell the WTC. I don't see us getting into the real estate business any more than we are, We will continue to operate the facilities that we have, but I don't see us doing anymore real estate purchases.

FRIEDMAN: What are the Port Authority's priorities for the next few years?

SEYMOUR: One is to settle the lease issue with the New York airports. Another huge focus that we have is on the World Trade Center, that includes reconstructing the PATH, developing the infrastructure, designing and building the memorial, and creating the new downtown transportation center.

If you study the history Midtown Manhattan, you'll see that the real catalyst for Midtown was Grand Central Terminal. When New York Central decided to deck over what is now Park Avenue and offer that real estate for sale, the area developed. We believe that by working with the MTA and developing a grand terminal for downtown, it can have a similar impact.

We are now going to link all of the mass transit systems in an east to west fashion. Everything before was north and south. In the future you are going to get off the Nos. 4, 5, and 6 trains (on the East Side) and move to the World Financial Center, over a half a mile to the west, through a climate controlled environment. There will be escalators and people movers. Along that east-west spine, you'll be able to catch the Nos. 1 and 9 trains, the N and R trains and the PATH trains. That, I think, will be a will be a huge catalyst to spur the future development of lower Manhattan.

Of course, let us not forget the memorial. We are working with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to design and construct a memorial to the victims and heroes of 9/11.

And we are looking forward to the AirTrain opening sometime between August and October of this year.