Rick Cotton

Rick Cotton is the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He assumed this role in 2017.[1] Cotton is also a Port Authority board member.[2]

Rick Cotton
Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Assumed office
August 14, 2017
Appointed byAndrew Cuomo
Preceded byPat Foye
Personal details
Alma materHarvard University (BA)
Yale University (JD)

Early life and education

Cotton was born in 1945 or 1946 in the South Side neighborhood of Chicago.[3] His mother, Sylvia Cotton, founded Illinois Action for Children, a nonprofit that helps children with their medical issues and education. His father, Eugene Cotton, served as a labor lawyer. Cotton has a BA from Harvard University and a JD from Yale Law School.[4]

Career

Cotton served as Supreme Court Associate Justice William J. Brennan Jr.'s clerk during 1970–1971. He served as NBCUniversal's general counsel and New York governor Andrew Cuomo's "transportation czar" prior to becoming the Port Authority's executive director.[4]

Cotton has advocated for a new air train running from Flushing to La Guardia. He has called this a one stop from downtown to the airport. Critiques have noted the transfers and distance involved to dispute this.[5] This project has been viewed as an Andrew Cuomo vanity project that does not realize its intended purpose.[6] In the end, the LaGuardia AirTrain is a bad plan with a price tag well in excess of its few benefits.

Personal life

Cotton married Elizabeth W. Smith, the Assistant Commissioner of New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, in 2011.[3]

On March 9, 2020, New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced that Cotton had been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019. His wife also tested positive for the virus, and the couple were reported to have self-quarantined in their home.[7] Cuomo reported on March 22 that Cotton had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 without having been hospitalized.[8]

See also

References
  1. McGeehan, Patrick (August 13, 2017). "'Czar of Infrastructure' Embraces Role as Pillar for Port Authority". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  2. "Rick Cotton; Executive Director, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  3. "Elizabeth Smith and Richard Cotton". The New York Times. May 13, 2011. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  4. "2019 Queens Courier Person of the Year: Rick Cotton, Port Authority boss, helping the airports soar". QNS.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  5. https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/08/21/feds-boost-foundering-laguardia-airtrain/
  6. https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/01/03/op-ed-stop-the-runaway-laguardia-airtrain/
  7. Haag, Matthew; McGeehan, Patrick (March 9, 2020). "Head of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Tests Positive for Coronavirus". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  8. Gronewold, Anna; Muoio, Danielle. "Cuomo gives New York City 24 hours to address lack of social distancing". Politico PRO. Retrieved March 23, 2020.


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