Description
Book SynopsisFrom selected Port Authority of New York and New Jersey successes and failures, Philip Mark Plotch and Jen Nelles produce a significant and engaging account of a powerful governmental entity that offers durable lessons on collaboration, leadership, and the challenge of overcoming complex political challenges in modern America.
Trade Review“
Mobilizing the Metropolis is a gem. Not only does it artfully tell the story of the organizational evolution and successes of nation’s first public authority in the 20th century but also it underlines the critical importance of regional infrastructure projects—airports, bridges, tunnels, ports, ferries, terminals, and their connectors in forging the NY-NJ metro area into the powerful economic force it has become over the past 100 years. Most notable, it offers a pathway for the transformation of PANYNJ into an effective 21st century institution.” —Eugenie L. Birch, FAICP, Stuart Weitzman School of Design
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Mobilizing the Metropolis offers an authoritative account of how the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey grew and shaped the metropolitan region. Exhaustively researched, it offers a trenchant analysis of the key factors accounting for the Port Authority’s spectacular rise and recent struggles. There are valuable lessons learned applicable to other public agencies and regions. This is a significant contribution to the study of public bureaucracy and infrastructure and should attract a broad audience.” —Steven P. Erie, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of California San Diego
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Mobilizing the Metropolis is both the definitive history of the Port Authority and an impressive critical analysis of its evolution, strengths, and weaknesses over its century-long existence. Highly readable, it contains important lessons about how any public authority should, or should not, be created and operated.” —Jim Burnley, Chair, Eno Center for Transportation, Former United States Secretary of Transportation
“Plotch and Nelles hit the mark with this tour-de-force review of major infrastructure project delivery and the golden rule of effective coalitions. They explain that, in order to succeed, projects must have crystal clear scope, positive, enabling stakeholder relations, and coalitions that are singularly focused on successful budgetary and schedule outcomes.” —Andy Byford, former Commissioner of Transport for London, president of NYC Transit, and CEO of Toronto Transit Commission
“Plotch and Nelles offer a novel framework that identifies several factors that explain both the Port Authority’s successes and failures. Anyone who is interested in urban politics, regionalism, urban planning, state and local government, or more specifically in the New York metro area, will find this a fascinating book.” —Richardson Dilworth, Drexel University
“This book provides a detailed economic history of the Port Authority of NY and NJ. Yet it is also a work that addresses a number of key questions concerning the political economy of large public organizations. Given the economic and cultural significance of the Port Authority and the key infrastructures for which it is responsible, this is an important contribution with international relevance.” —Iain Docherty, University of Stirling
Table of Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Creation and First Triumphs
- 3. Grappling with Capacity Problems at the Airports
- 4. Competing on a Global Scale
- 5. Fostering Regional Mobility Through Enduring Partnerships
- 6. Turning Point: A Strike at Autonomy and a Blow to the Culture
- 7. Moving Three Bridges from the Periphery to Center Stage
- 8. Building and Rebuilding the World Trade Center
- 9. The Rhetoric and Reality of Political Independence
- 10. Conclusion
- Notes
- Index
