Rick Cotton, the longest-serving executive director of the Port Authority since the 1940s who has presided over some of the bistate agency’s most transformative projects in its history, 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.
Over Cotton’s eight-plus year tenure as executive, he and Chairman Kevin O’Toole have overseen projects that have transformed the agency’s bridges, tunnels, seaports, rail transportation and airports. They pushed through institutional reform and navigated the paralyzing COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most difficult operating environments in the Port Authority’s history.
Earlier this month, the agency published its proposed new 10-year capital plan that will fund the agency’s ambitious agenda through 2035 and build on the projects completed or in progress such as the Midtown Bus Terminal.
“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,” said Cotton. “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.”
Key highlights of Cotton’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.
- 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 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.
- Rebuilt LaGuardia from the ground up, replacing the nation’s most outdated airport with a unified, world-class facility, delivered through an $8 billion public-private partnership and the airport was fully operational throughout construction.
- Set the new JFK Airport 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
“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. 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.”
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.”
