PA NEWS - Port Authority Retirees Association, Inc.

PA NEWS
Published weekly for Port Authority and PATH employees
December 23, 2010/Volume 9/Number 51
The Tots Will Be Joyful
Happy Holidays
from One WTC
Alan Hicks
John Denise
One World Trade Center is appropriately
lighted for the holidays.
Executive Director Chris Ward (center) joins Port Authority Police Marine Corps Association
members Director of Public Safety/Superintendent of Police Michael Fedorko (2nd from
right) and (from left) Lieutenants Ray Bryan and Geraldo Silva and Detective Adil
Almontaser at Port Authority headquarters last week with some of the 3,400 toys donated
by PA employees that PAPMCA collected for the annual Toys for Tots program. Five hundred
of the toys were delivered to the children’s ward at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in
Brooklyn. The rest were delivered to the New Jersey and New York Marine Corps Reserve
Depots, where they will be distributed to needy families. Not pictured but instrumental in
the operation: Police Officers Patrick Cardone, Javier Cerna, Hans Gomero, and Joshua
Maarleveld.
From the Chairman and the Executive Director
A
s 2010 comes to a close,
we wanted to take this
opportunity to express our
gratitude for your continued hard
work, professionalism, and dedication.
Despite these challenging economic
times, the Port Authority enjoyed
many notable successes over the last
year. We made dramatic construction
progress at the World Trade Center
site; we completed replacement of
JFK’s Bay Runway within budget and
on schedule and with minimal impacts
to travelers; we continued placing our
new PA-5 rail cars into service and
took delivery of our 250th car; we
completed the GWB Upper Level
Deck Rehabilitation design, incorporating innovative engineering and staging
to minimize cost and traveler inconvenience; and we acquired the Global
Terminal, adding nearly 100 acres of
container terminal space in Jersey City
and Bayonne.
These successes and others
throughout the entire agency reflect
the Port Authority’s unwavering
commitment to the region’s prosperity,
and are a testament to all of your
contributions in the last year.
As we look ahead, we can be
proud of the central role the Port
Authority is playing in our region’s
economic recovery. The agency’s
2011 budget provides for a historic
level of capital spending to advance
regional priorities, such as rebuilding
the World Trade Center, modernizing
Newark Liberty International and
LaGuardia airports, the new PATH
cars and replacement of the signal
system, and continued expansion
of ExpressRail.
Befitting an agency created to
promote the region’s well-being,
these investments will help support
the region’s economic growth and
result in thousands of well-paying jobs.
Our very best wishes for the holiday
season and a safe, healthy, and happy
New Year.
Anthony R. Coscia, Chairman
Chris Ward, Executive Director
Happy Holidays
From AirTrain JFK
Achievements
PWC Awards
Michael Buesing
WTC Construction Assistant Director Carla Bonacci and
Program Director Debra Simonelli were honored by
Professional Women in Construction at the organization’s
30th anniversary gala in Manhattan this month.
The national nonprofit organization paid tribute to
their “key roles in the $11 billion rebuilding of the World
Trade Center.”
Ms. Bonacci supervises funds of more than
$1 billion as head of the WTC Infrastructure and Project
Development group. Ms. Simonelli is responsible for
coordination, design, and construction of the Vehicular
Security Center and Tour Bus Parking Facility.
Robbyn Stewart
At the black-tie event December
10 at the Yale Club, World Trade
Center Construction Director
Steven Plate congratulates Ms.
Bonacci (right) and Ms. Simonelli.
Mr. Plate received a certificate of
appreciation from PWC.
Calendar
Three Kings Celebration
FDU Open House
The officers and members of the Port
Authority Hispanic Society invite PA
employees and friends to save the date
for their annual Three Kings Cultural
Celebration. It takes place Friday, January
21, 6:30 to 11 p.m., at the Manhattan
Penthouse, 80 Fifth Avenue at 14th Street.
The cost is $65. See Employee Bulletins
for details.
Fairleigh Dickinson University will hold
an open house at 5 p.m. Wednesday,
January 5, at Gateway II in Newark, 14th
floor, for PA employees interested in its
onsite graduate and undergraduate programs. Tuition is half the normal cost.
For more information, contact Professor
William Roberts at [email protected] or 201
692-7176.
The St. John’s University Gospel Choir
(photo above) and the August Martin High
School Drum Ensemble entertained airport
customers at the Jamaica AirTrain Terminal
on December 15 and 17, respectively.
Pictured with the Gospel Choir is JFK
Patron Services Coordinator Robbyn Stewart
(foreground), and with the Drum Ensemble
is Unit Terminal Buildings Supervisor Hilda
Perez (right).
Happy Holidays
from the GWB
‘Operation Santa’ Takes Off at JFK
Happy Holidays from LGA
2
PA News / December 23, 2010
Retirement News
April Gasparri
Sharon Batson of LaGuardia Airport Operations
organizes donations by LGA staff to
Soles4Souls, which collects new and gently
used shoes for those in need. LGA employees
also ran a Toys for Tots drive. “Both charity
drives were very successful thanks to the
wonderful holiday spirit of all our employees,”
LGA Deputy General Manager Lysa Scully said.
George
Washington
Bridge and Bus
Station General
Manager Robert
Durando thanks
Operations
Planning Analyst
Teri Riva, who,
with Tolls
Supervisor
Susan Washington, coordinated the facility’s Second Annual Food Drive. GWB
employees donated six large trash cans of
food and $160 for the Center for Food
Action in Englewood.
Retirement parties have been set for
PAPD’s Chief George Albin, Inspector Larry
Fields, and Captain Donald Burns; Law’s
Carole Margetson and Ron Senio; and
TSD’s Siu Moy and Denise Shelley. See
Employee Bulletins for details.
PA News will publish again on January 6.
Lisa Herrera
Mike Cody
Helping out at the 65th annual
Community Mayors Christmas Party for
disabled children on December 8 at
Hangar 19 are (from left) Port Authority
Police Columbia Association President
Police Officer Steven Famiglietti, Vice
President Police Officer Joseph D’Angelo,
WPIX News Reporter Jill Nicolini,
Association Sergeant at Arms Police
Officer Irene Monteleone, and Sopranos
actor Dan Grimaldi, a longtime supporter
of the event. The special-needs children
are entertained for the day, visited by
Santa Claus, and presented with gifts.