Board of Commissioners
David Samson, Chairman
David Samson was nominated to the Board of Commissioners by Governor Chris Christie. He was confirmed by the New Jersey State Senate on January 25, 2011 and was elected as the agency's Chairman on February 3, 2011. Mr. Samson is a Partner and founding member of the law firm Wolff & Samson. His 40-year career in private practice includes extensive experience in complex business and corporate litigation, administrative proceedings, and governmental and regulatory affairs.
During 2002-2003, Mr. Samson served as New Jersey Attorney General, the chief law enforcement officer for New Jersey. In this role, he supervised the statewide Divisions of Criminal Justice, New Jersey State Police, Civil Rights, Consumer Affairs and Gaming Enforcement, as well as the Division of Law, which represents all executive departments in New Jersey State government. As Chairman of the New Jersey Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force, he worked hand-in-hand with federal agencies in organizing and directing counter-terrorism efforts throughout the New Jersey-New York area.
In 2009, Mr. Samson was counsel to the gubernatorial election campaign of Christopher J. Christie and thereafter served as the Chairman of the Transition Committee for Governor Christie. Mr. Samson has also acted as a court-appointed labor union trustee, a civil litigation discovery master and as a federal monitor pursuant to a United States Department of Justice deferred prosecution agreement.
Among his public positions, Mr. Samson was appointed by Governor James Florio as a member of the Governor's Commission on Health Care Costs and by Governor Thomas Kean as the Chairman of the Governor's Task Force on the Laws Governing the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He also served from 1982-1990 as General Counsel to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
Mr. Samson was appointed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey to serve on its Ethics Committee and was a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Reporting of Court Decisions. He was also the legal consultant to the Advisory Committee to the Attorney General on Governmental Immunity. In addition, Mr. Samson served on the New Jersey Bar Association Committee on Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments.
Mr. Samson served a judicial clerkship with Associate Justice Nathan L. Jacobs of the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Committee Assignments: Operations (Chair).
Scott H. Rechler, Vice-Chairman
Scott Rechler was appointed to the Board of Commissioners in June 2011 by Governor Cuomo. Mr. Rechler is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of RXR Realty LLC (“RXR”), a multi-billion dollar private real estate company which was formed subsequent to the sale of Reckson Associates Realty Corp (“Reckson”) to SL Green in January 2007, one of the largest public Real Estate management buyouts in REIT history.
Mr. Rechler's vision and leadership guided Reckson where he served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board during its years of dynamic growth throughout New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, Westchester and Connecticut, overseeing in excess of $6 billion in acquisitions and developments and managing over 20 million square feet of commercial property in New York's Tri-State Area. Mr. Rechler's real estate acumen and entrepreneurial spirit delivered stellar returns to investors including a 715% total return to the Reckson shareholders.
Mr. Rechler was at Reckson from 1989 until January 2007 and during his tenure served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and member of Reckson's Board of Directors since its formation, as well as the Chairman of the Board's Executive Committee. Mr. Rechler was the architect of Reckson's successful IPO in 1995.
Since its formation in January 2007, Mr. Rechler has led RXR in becoming one of the New York Tri-State area's leading real estate companies with approximately $3.5 billion of assets under management invested in a portfolio of 105 operating properties encompassing 15.0 million square feet.
Mr. Rechler is actively involved with the Real Estate Roundtable, for which he is a member of the Board of Directors and Co-Chair of its Political Action Committee.
Mr. Rechler prides himself on enhancing the communities where RXR operates. As such, Mr. Rechler serves as a Board member of the Association for a Better Long Island, Board member of the Association for a Better New York, member of the Hofstra Honors College Advisory Committee, as well as the NYU Real Estate Institute Advisory Committee. In addition, Mr. Rechler serves as the Co-President of the Board of Trustees for Friends Academy and serves on the Board of many of the regions top cultural institutions such as the Tribeca Film Institute and the Long Island Children's Museum where he serves as its co-Chairman of the Board.
Mr. Rechler is a graduate of Clark University. He also earned a Masters of Science degree in Real Estate at the New York University Schack Institute.
Committee Assignments: Operations (Vice-Chair), Capital Planning, Execution and Asset Management (Chair).
Richard H. Bagger
Richard H. Bagger was nominated to the Board of Commissioners by Governor Chris Christie. He was confirmed by the New Jersey State Senate on June 28, 2012. Mr. Bagger is Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Strategic Market Access for Celgene Corporation, a multinational biopharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery, development and commercialization of treatments for cancer and severe, immune-inflammatory conditions. Rich is responsible for advancing patient access to Celgene therapies and driving recognition of the value of Celgene innovation through government relations, communications, patient advocacy and market access policy activities around the world.
Mr. Bagger most recently served for two years as Chief of Staff for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, responsible for managing implementation of the Governor’s policy agenda and priorities.
Previously, Rich was employed by Pfizer Inc for more than 16 years in a series of positions of increasing responsibility within the Company’s U.S. Pharmaceuticals, Corporate Affairs and Worldwide Pharmaceuticals Divisions. From 2006 to 2009, he served on Pfizer’s senior most management team as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Public Affairs and Policy.
Prior to joining Pfizer in 1993, Mr. Bagger was Assistant General Counsel of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey, and before that practiced law with McCarter & English.
Mr. Bagger’s record of public service includes ten years in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he was Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and was elected by his colleagues to be Majority Conference Leader. In 2001, he was elected to the New Jersey Senate and serviced there until 2002. Before his election to the Legislature, he was a Councilman and Mayor of Westfield, New Jersey.
Richard Bagger has served on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations, including the United States Chamber of Commerce, British American Business, the APEC Life Sciences Innovation Forum, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Business Council of New York State, the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, the United Hospital Fund of New York , the American Council of Young Political Leaders, the Citizens Budget Commission of New York, the Overlook Hospital Foundation and the New Jersey Historical Society.
He received an A.B. degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a J.D. degree from Rutgers University Law School.
Committee Assignments: Finance (Chair), Audit, Security.
H. Sidney Holmes III
H. Sidney Holmes III was appointed to the Board of Commissioners in May 2008 by Governor Paterson. Mr. Holmes is Senior Counsel of Winston & Strawn LLP and has substantial experience in the area of public finance. Mr. Holmes has served as bond counsel, underwriter's counsel, and bank counsel in virtually every type of municipal bond financing throughout the United States and its territories. He has extensive experience in industrial and economic development revenue bond financing, including health care facilities financings, transportation facilities financings, and sports facilities financings. Mr. Holmes also has represented a number of foreign and domestic banks as credit and liquidity providers of municipal debt. His representative clients include state and local governmental agencies and major financial institutions
In 2011, Mr. Holmes was recognized as a New York Super Lawyer in the New York Super Lawyer Magazine in the area of bonds and government finance.
Mr. Holmes is a Commissioner of the New York State Insurance Fund and is a board member of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation.
Mr. Holmes received a B.A. from Columbia University and a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law.
Committee Assignments: Finance, Governance and Ethics
Jeffrey H. Lynford
Jeffrey H. Lynford was appointed to the Board of Commissioners in June 2011 by Governor Cuomo. Mr. Lynford, currently Co-Managing Member of Wellsford Strategic Partners LLC, is the co-founder of the Wellsford group of public and private real estate companies. Over an 18 year period he has served as the Chairman of three exchange-listed corporations: Wellsford Residential Property Trust (NYSE: an investment grade multi-family REIT from 1992 to 1997), Wellsford Real Properties, Inc. (AMEX: a real estate merchant banking and development firm from 1997 to 2007), and Reis, Inc. (NASDAQ: real estate analytics and information firm from 2007 to 2010). Previously, he held senior investment banking positions on Wall Street.
Mr. Lynford has served as a trustee/director on the boards of S.E.C. reporting corporations and mutual funds as well as non-profit organizations. He is an expert on capital formation, corporate governance “best practices,” and has extensive experience serving on many audit, finance, investment and executive board committees.
Mr. Lynford holds two additional gubernatorial appointments (the New York State Council on the Arts and the Trust for Governors Island) and serves on the board of two institutions of higher education (NYU and Polytechnic Institute). Additionally, he is Vice Chairman of the Global Heritage Fund and the grantor of the Lynford Family Charitable Trust, which supports many eleemosynary organizations with domestic and international missions. He is a trustee emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Citizens Budget Commission, Caramoor International Center for Music and the Arts, and a former ex officio trustee of the Lower Eastside Tenement Museum.
Mr. Lynford holds three university degrees, including a BA in history from SUNY at Buffalo, a Masters in Public Affairs (MPA) from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a JD from Fordham University School of Law.
Committee Assignments: Finance (Vice-Chair), Audit.
Jeffrey A. Moerdler
Jeffrey A. Moerdler was appointed to the Board of Commissioners in April 2010 by Governor Paterson. Mr. Moerdler is a Member of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. where he is the New York office Section Head for the Real Estate and Communications Sections and is a member of the Environmental Section. His real estate practice is both national and local and includes representation of landlords and tenants in all types of leases, counseling owners and developers in the acquisition, sale, development and renovation of property, advising lenders and borrowers in commercial loans, and the representation of all parties in real estate litigation.
Mr. Moerdler has been a general commercial real estate attorney for almost thirty years. He has represented large national companies, particularly in the high-tech, telecommunications, financial services, health care, supermarket and oil and gas sectors, as well representing numerous smaller local clients. During the past twenty years, he has developed a unique specialty practice in the intersection of real estate and communications issues.
Mr. Moerdler is a member of the Executive Committee of the Real Property Section of the New York State Bar Association. Previously, he has served in numerous governmental positions, including representative of the President Pro Tem of the New York State Senate on the New York State Financial Control Board; Member of the New York State Banking Board; Member of the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the Appellate Division, First Department, of the New York State Supreme Court; Assistant to the First Deputy Mayor of the City of New York; and Assistant to the Deputy Borough President of the Borough of Manhattan.
Mr. Moerdler is admitted to practice in the States of New York, Florida and Massachusetts, in the District of Columbia, and before the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. He attended the Horace Mann School and was awarded his B.A. by Columbia College of Columbia University and his J.D. by the New York University School of Law.
Mr. Moerdler has written numerous articles on communications and real estate subjects. He is regularly quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Commercial Property News, Real Estate Weekly and other publications. In recognition of his professional achievement, in 2002 he was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) and every year commencing with 2006 he has been a New York Super Lawyer in The New York Times.
Committee Assignments: Audit (Vice-Chair), Governance and Ethics (Vice-Chair), Security, Capital Planning, Execution and Asset Management.
Raymond M. Pocino
Raymond Pocino was appointed to the Board of Commissioners in June 2002 by Governor McGreevey. For more than 50 years, Mr. Pocino has been a member of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA). He was appointed regional manager of LIUNA's Eastern Region Office in April 1995 and later won election as a LIUNA Vice President in September 1996. He was re-elected to additional five-year terms in 2001 and again in 2006. In his dual positions as Vice President and Eastern Regional Manager, Mr. Pocino directs and oversees activities that affect the working lives of some 40,000 laborers in the New Jersey, Delaware, New York City and Long Island geographical area. He is also President Emeritus of Construction & General Laborers Local 172 in Trenton, NJ. Mr. Pocino is serving his fifth term as a commissioner of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, one term as chairman. Mr. Pocino also serves as Vice Present of the NJ State AFL-CIO, Vice Chair of Choose New Jersey, and serves as a trustee of both the NJ Alliance for Action and New Jersey SEED.
Committee Assignments: Finance, Capital Planning, Execution and Asset Management.
Rossana Rosado
Rossana Rosado was confirmed by the New York State Senate as a Commissioner on the Board of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on June 6, 2012. Ms. Rosado has spent 19 of her twenty seven years in the New York media at El Diario La Prensa. She has been Publisher and CEO since 1999, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the oldest Spanish-language newspaper in the country where she is responsible for over $22 million in annual revenue.
Prior to becoming publisher Ms. Rosado was Editor in Chief of the paper where she also worked as a journalist in the early 80's. She was the first woman to hold that position at the now 97-year old paper.
During her media career, Ms. Rosado has been a reporter at El Diario-La Prensa where she covered The Bronx, City Hall, and wrote a weekly column. In 1988, she joined WPIX, Inc. as a producer of Public Affairs programming. She was later promoted to Public Service Director, responsible for the creation and placement of hundreds of Public Service Announcements on the air. She won an Emmy in 1992 for the production of a series of PSA's featuring organization which helped children.
In 1992 she was appointed Vice President for Public Affairs at the Health & Hospitals Corporation for the City of New York. She spent three years working for both the Dinkins and then Giuliani administration in the same post.
Her prior experience includes positions at WCBS-AM and FM radio, and WNYC-TV 31.
Her many awards include an Emmy, a STAR award from the NY Women's Agenda, and a Peabody Award for Journalism. She served on Mayor Bloomberg's transition team in 2001 and as one of six co-chairs for Governor Eliot Spitzer's transition team in 2006.
She currently serves on the board of the New York Women's Foundation, The Innocence Project, 100 Hispanic Women of Westchester, Repertorio Español and co chairs a capital committee for the Caribbean Cultural Center. She's also an advisor to The Fortune Society and she served on Governor Paterson's Task Force on Juvenile Justice from 2008 – 2009.
She received her B.A. in Journalism from Pace University in White Plains, New York.
Committee Assignments: Governance and Ethics, Security.
James P. Rubin
James P. Rubin was confirmed by the New York State Senate as a Commissioner on the Board of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on June 6, 2012. In November 2011, Governor Andrew Cuomo also appointed Mr. Rubin as his Counselor for Competitiveness and International Affairs at the Empire State Development Corporation.
Mr. Rubin served under President Clinton as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Chief Spokesman for the State Department from 1997 to May 2000. He was also a top policy adviser to Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and acted as a special negotiator during the Kosovo war to secure the demobilization of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
From 2000 to December 2008, Mr. Rubin worked in London as a broadcaster, professor, commentator and financial communications strategist. From October 2005 to October 2007, he was international news anchor and World Affairs Commentator for SKY news. Mr. Rubin was also a Visiting Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics from 2001-2004; a partner in the Brunswick Group – a financial advisory firm – from 2001-2004; and in 2002 and 2003, the host of the PBS series Wide Angle, a primetime, weekly international affairs program.
From 2008 to 2010, Mr. Rubin was adjunct professor of international affairs at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. From January to September 2011, he served as Executive Editor of Bloomberg View, the opinion section of Bloomberg News.
In 1998, Mr. Rubin was the recipient of Columbia University's John Jay Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement. In 2000, he received the State Department's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Rubin received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science (1982) and a Masters in International Affairs (1984) from Columbia University.
Mr. Rubin is also a commentator and lecturer on U.S. foreign policy and world affairs and serves on the Board of the International Peace Institute.
Committee Assignments: Security (Chair), Operations.
Anthony J. Sartor, Ph.D., P.E., P.P.
Anthony J. Sartor was appointed to the Board of Commissioners in March 1999. His most recent reappointment to the Board was in January 2008 by Governor Corzine. Dr. Sartor is currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paulus, Sokolowski & Sartor, located in Warren, New Jersey. His experience includes serving as Senior Vice President of National Grid, President and Chief Operating Officer of National Grid Energy Services and President of KeySpan Business Solutions. Prior to his appointment to The Port Authority Board, he served from 1992 to 1999 as a Commissioner of The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. A pioneer in the environmental engineering field since the 1960's, Dr. Sartor received his Ph.D. and Masters degree from the University of Michigan in Chemical Engineering and his Bachelors degree from Manhattan College. He is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Science and Engineering, American Men and Women of Science, as well as many other national and international directories.
Committee Assignments: WTC Redevelopment Subcommittee (Chair), Capital Planning, Execution and Asset Management (Vice-Chair), Operations, Governance and Ethics.
William “Pat” Schuber, Esq., BA, JD
William “Pat” Schuber joined the Board in July 2011. He was appointed to the Board by Governor Christie. Mr. Schuber served as The County Executive of Bergen County for 12 years, 9 years as a member of the New Jersey State Assembly and Mayor of the Borough of Bogota for 4 years. He is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Administrative Science, Petrocelli College, Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is a faculty member in the Master of Administrative Science (MAS), Master of Science in Homeland Security (MSHS), Master of Sports Administration (MSA) and Bachelor of Arts in Individualized Studies (BAIS). His courses include Leadership, Government, Homeland Security, Law, Ethics and Communication. He is a past Adjunct Professor in Business Law at Montclair University and Seton Hall University. He is an Instructor in the Certified Public Manager Course of Studies (CPM) and the Police Executive Leadership Course sponsored by the New Jersey Association Chiefs of Police and the New Jersey State Police (NJSP).
Mr. Schuber has conducted Leadership Staff Ride Seminars at the Battlefields of Gettysburg, Antietam, Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth Courthouse, Brandywine and Normandy, France. He lectures frequently on military history, historical leadership, homeland security, ethics, communication and conflict resolution to numerous civic groups. He is the Seminar Director for the Bergen Leads Program sponsored by the Volunteer Center of Bergen County. This program trains future leaders in business, non-profit and government. He has written several scholarly articles and co-authored books on topics of History, Leadership and Homeland Security. Mr. Schuber served as a Captain in the US Army Reserve (Retired).
Mr. Schuber is a graduate of Fordham University with a BA and received his JD at Fordham University School of Law. He is currently serving Of Counsel to the law firm of DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick & Cole, LLP in Teaneck, New Jersey.
Committee Assignments: Governance and Ethics (Chair), Security (Vice Chair), Finance.
David S. Steiner
David S. Steiner was appointed to the Board of Commissioners by Governor McGreevey in January 2003. Mr. Steiner is currently the Chairman of Steiner Equities Group, LLC a real estate development firm specializing in industrial office parks and commercial facilities in New Jersey and 14 other states and based in Roseland, New Jersey. Mr. Steiner recently built Steiner Studios, an unprecedented 280,000 square foot, $118 million state-of-the-art film and television production facility, situated on a 15-acre site at the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard. Mr. Steiner has worked with federal agencies such as the EPA and with Congressional committees and organized lobbying programs relating to land use regulation and industrial development. He is highly active in public service. Previously he served as vice president of the Washington Institute for Far East Policy. Mr. Steiner graduated from Carnegie Institute of Technology with a degree in Civil Engineering.
Committee Assignments: Audit (Chair), Operations, Capital Planning, Execution and Asset Management.
