New Jersey
New York vs. New Jersey Port Fight Heads to U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday agreed to resolve whether or not New Jersey can unilaterally pull out of a bistate crime-fighting company it has operated with New York for many years.
New York state officers in March requested the courtroom to cease New Jersey from withdrawing from the Waterfront Fee of New York Harbor, a regulator arrange virtually 70 years in the past to combat organized crime on the docks on the Port of New York and New Jersey.
The courtroom promptly blocked New Jersey from pulling out of the company whereas it thought-about New York’s request. In a short written order Tuesday, the justices agreed to take the case and requested the 2 sides to submit written arguments this summer season and fall.
The Supreme Courtroom holds the authority to resolve disputes between states. Tuesday’s order indicated the courtroom might rule primarily based on written briefs somewhat than maintain oral argument or assign the matter to an impartial knowledgeable, because the justices generally do in boundary disputes and different advanced issues.
A spokesman for New Jersey Gov.
Phil Murphy,
a Democrat, mentioned his state seems ahead to with the ability to withdraw from the company and “to reclaim authority over its ports with a regulatory construction extra fitted to the twenty first century.”
New Jersey officers say state police can take over the fee’s regulatory features on their facet of the Hudson River.
A spokeswoman for New York Legal professional Basic
Letitia James
mentioned the workplace seems ahead to presenting its case.
New York and New Jersey established the fee in 1953 to root out corruption and violence immortalized within the 1954 film “On the Waterfront.” In latest a long time, the fee has expanded its authority to incorporate range in hiring for trades that it says are nonetheless dominated by a white, male workforce.
The fee additionally continues to help in prosecutions. Final 12 months, in a associated case, the U.S. legal professional’s workplace for the Southern District of New York mentioned that organized crime stays a major risk on the docks. It praised the fee for its intelligence gathering and investigative help.
The 2 states function the port, the busiest ocean gateway on the East Coast via a bistate company, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which additionally controls the area’s main airports and several other tolled bridges and tunnels. The fee is impartial of the Port Authority.
Over the last 50 years, a lot of the port’s cargo-handling exercise has shifted from the piers of New York Metropolis to giant container terminals in New Jersey.
New Jersey officers say the fee has outlived its usefulness and that it stifles the port’s potential to develop as a result of it constrains hiring. They’re supported by the Worldwide Longshoremen’s Affiliation, which represents unionized dockworkers, and the New York Transport Affiliation, which represents operators of the port’s container terminals.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Ms. James, each Democrats, have mentioned New Jersey’s withdrawal would result in a rise in prison exercise, greater delivery prices and racial and gender inequities in hiring.
Write to Paul Berger at Paul.Berger@wsj.com and Jess Bravin at jess.bravin@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Firm, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8