b'2American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comBig numbers andNEW YORK PORTS 2025bigger questionsThe Port of New York/New Jersey is well on its way to another strong year in 2025. ThePorthasalsoinkedimportantdeals with its lease holders. But a number of big questions remain on Port projects funding with the Trump Administration. By George Lauriat, AJOTThere is an old saying thatStill,byanymeasure,a a rising tide lifts all ships andstrongperformanceforthe in the case of the Port of NewPANYNJs marine terminals. York/New Jersey in 2024 theBut,ascorollarytothe tideofcargoliftedtheEastoldadagesuggestswiththe Coasts largest Port to its thirdadvent of 2025, the tide was bestyearever,reaching8.7goingtoturnandhowthat million TEUs, surpassed onlywouldmanifestitselfwas bythepost-COVIDfreightopen to speculationand now surge in 2021 and 2022. The10-months into the year there Port of New York/New Jerseyisevenmoreuncertaintyas alsowasthenationsthird(BIGcontinued on page 10) The OOCL Iris enters the Port of New York & New Jerseylargestportin2024,behind the West Coast ports of Los Angeles at 10 million TEUs whileLongBeachhit9.649 millionTEUs.Andbesides thecontainerbusiness,the Porthandled68,000tonsof breakbulk cargo, 36.1 million tons of bulk, 410,000 vehicles and 331 cruise ships in 2024.And the economic impor-tance of the Port of New York/NewJerseyisextraordinary as global realtor Cushman & Wakefieldoutlinedintheir 2025 first half report stating, The Port has the largest 250-mile radius population of any portinNorth America,with more than 60 million people makingupone-thirdofthe countrys GDP.At the State of the Port open meeting in February, Beth AnnRooney,PortDirector of the Port Authority of New York/NewJersey(PANYNJ) observedthatthePorts2024 performance,did8.7mil-lion TEUs, an 11.4% increase over2023.Weremainedthe number one port on the East Coast.Wevedoneover2 millionloadedcontainersas comparedtoournextlarg-est competitor. We did slip to number three behind LA and Long Beach again for loaded containers,onlyjustabout 142,000containerslessthan Long Beach. [But] we could havedoneitifitwasntfor some of those other challenges that we had.Beth Ann Rooney, Port Director, Port Authority of NY/NJ'