New director for Port Authority

Christopher Ward was chosen this month by Gov. David Paterson to replace Anthony Shorris as the director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency that now runs Stewart International Airport in Newburgh.

Ward is no stranger to public service. He previously served New York City as the head of its Department of Environmental Protection from 2002-2006.  He is no stranger to the Port Authority, either. He previously held a position at American Stevedoring, which operates the PA”™s Red Hook terminal in Brooklyn, and worked in 2002 as chief of planning and director of port development.

Shorris, who came to Stewart Airport with former Gov. Eliot Spitzer to raise the PA”™s flag over the terminal last year, handed in his resignation shortly after Spitzer did so, though he has not been linked to the governor”™s woes.

Shorris pledged to make Stewart the first carbon-negative airport in the U.S. Since Ward”™s background is in the field of conservation, it seems likely he will follow in his predecessor”™s footsteps.