The Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor (WCNYH) was a regulatory agency in the Port of New York and New Jersey in the northeast of the United States. The bi-state agency was founded in 1953 by a Congressional authorized compact between New York and New Jersey "for the purpose of eliminating various evils on the waterfront in the Port of New York Harbor." Under statutory mandate, the mission of the commission is to investigate, deter, combat and remedy criminal activity and influence in the port district and also ensures fair hiring and employment practices.
Since 2018 New Jersey had attempted to withdraw from the pact. [1] In 2023, the United States Supreme Court ruled that it could do so, and the commission was dissolved. [2] [3]
The commission was set up in August 1953 (a year before the movie On the Waterfront ) to combat labor racketeering. [4] The commission was initially created to combat unfair hiring practices on the waterfront in response to the growing number of crimes being committed there.
The Division of Licensing and Employment Information Centers was responsible for screening, registering, and licensing individuals who are interested in working at the dock. The commission was authorized to deny or revoke the registration or licenses of those who involved themselves in criminal activity.
Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor Police | |
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Common name | Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor Police |
Abbreviation | WCPD |
Agency overview | |
Formed | 1953 |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction | New York, New York, U.S. |
Legal jurisdiction | New York City |
General nature | |
Operational structure | |
Peace Officers | 30 |
Parent agency | Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor |
Facilities | |
Patrol cars | Patrol Cars |
Boats | Patrol Boat |
Website | |
Official Site |
The WCNYH has a law enforcement division (a.k.a. WCPD), [5] who are New york state peace officers. They provided safety and security services at WCNYH areas within new york city.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has argued that the agency, has outlived its usefulness, and that the New Jersey State Police will take over law enforcement operations at New Jersey ports. [6]
The Waterfront ( police ) division only operated on property owned by the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor in lower Manhattan and Redhook Brooklyn.
The Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor cooperated with other law enforcement authorities in pursuing investigations into waterfront-related crimes.
The Waterfront Commission participated in the investigation of criminal activities by the leaders and members of the Gambino crime family and union leaders. Charges of racketeering conspiracy, extortion, theft of union benefits, mail fraud, false statements, loansharking, embezzlement of union funds, money laundering, and illegal gambling, dating back over three decades, were brought forth by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in February 2008 against leaders of the Gambino crime family, their associates, and union officials. [7]
WCPD used marked police patrol cars (such as Ford Explorer [8] ), command center vehicles [9] and boats for water work. [10]
WCPD Officers wear a dark blue uniform in the style as other law enforcement in new york city. [9] Identification included the WCPD patch on both sides of the upper garments and a WCPD shield (badge) on the left breast. [9]
On August 11, 2009, the New York State Inspector General Joseph Fisch issued a report of his two-year investigation of the Waterfront Commission. The report detailed extensive illegal, corrupt and unethical behavior on the part of Waterfront Commission staff. Following release of the report, the large majority of the commission's executive staff were fired, including the New Jersey Commissioner Michael J. Madonna (the New York Commissioner's seat was vacant at the time of the report's release, although the report faulted the actions of the former New York Commissioner, Michael C. Axelrod). [11] [12]
The report's existence was due, in part, to two whistleblowers, Kevin McGown and Brian Smith, who both resigned and have since filed a discrimination complaint against the agency. [13]
In October 2014, the New Jersey Senate passed measure S-2277 which would direct the governor of New Jersey to withdraw from the bi-state compact and transfer the commission's oversight responsibilities in New Jersey to the state police. [14] In May 2015, Governor Chris Christie conditionally vetoed S-2277 (and the corresponding bill A-3506 passed by the New Jersey General Assembly), citing his concerns that the state lacked the authority to withdraw from the compact and arguing that the solution should be to modify the operations of the commission to minimize interference with waterfront operations. [15]
Among his final actions in January 2018 before leaving office, Christie signed legislation allowing the state to withdraw from the pact. [16] [1]
New York v. New Jersey | |
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Argued March 1, 2023 Decided April 18, 2023 | |
Full case name | New York v. New Jersey |
Docket no. | 22-156 |
Citations | 598 U.S. ___ ( more ) |
Argument | Oral argument |
Holding | |
As the compact between New Jersey and New York did not specify a withdrawal mechanism, New Jersey may unilaterally withdraw from the WCNYH. | |
Court membership | |
| |
Case opinion | |
Majority | Kavanaugh, joined by Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Barrett, Jackson |
The Supreme Court paused New Jersey's withdrawal from the compact creating the commission until it has addressed the merits of an injunction filed by the State of New York. In April 2023, the Court ruled unanimously in favor of New Jersey, stating that unilateral withdrawal was permissible as the interstate compact creating the commission did not address withdrawals from it. Because there is no explicit form of withdrawal in the compact, the Court found that default contract law from the time of the compact's creation applied, which allows termination of a contract by either party. [17] [18] [19]
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized by the United States Congress. The Port Authority oversees much of the regional transportation infrastructure, including bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, within the geographical jurisdiction of the Port of New York and New Jersey. This 1,500-square-mile (3,900 km2) port district is generally encompassed within a 25-mile (40 km) radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. The Port Authority is headquartered at 4 World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.
New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay and an extremely small portion of the Lower Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York/New Jersey Bight near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the East Coast of the United States.
The Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA), officially the Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is a bi-state agency instrumentality created by a congressionally approved interstate compact between the state governments of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The authority is principally charged to maintain and develop transportation links between the two states with four bridges and a mass transit rail line across the Delaware River. Though the DRPA has "port" in its name, it does not own or operate any ports.
In the United States, an interstate compact is a pact or agreement between two or more states, or between states and any foreign sub-national government.
The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) is a North American labor union representing longshore workers along the East Coast of the United States and Canada, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, and inland waterways; on the West Coast, the dominant union is the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. The ILA has approximately 200 local affiliates in port cities in these areas.
The New Jersey State Police (NJSP) is the official state police force of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with statewide jurisdiction, designated by troop sectors.
Stuart Jeff Rabner is the chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. He served as New Jersey Attorney General, chief counsel to Governor Jon Corzine, and as a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.
The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a 25-mile (40 km) radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.
David Samson is an American lawyer who served as New Jersey Attorney General under Democratic Governor Jim McGreevey from 2002 to 2003. He served as the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) from 2011 until his resignation on March 28, 2014 in the aftermath of the Fort Lee lane closure scandal. Samson is a partner and founding member of the law firm Wolff & Samson from which he resigned in April 2015, and had been an ally of Governor Chris Christie.
De Veau v. Braisted, 363 U.S. 144 (1960), is a 5-to-3 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States that an interstate compact restricting convicted felons from holding union office is not preempted by the National Labor Relations Act or the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, does not violate the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, and is not an ex post facto law or bill of attainder in violation of Article One, Section 10 of the Constitution.
Gambling in New Jersey includes casino gambling in Atlantic City, the New Jersey Lottery, horse racing, off-track betting, charity gambling, amusement games, and social gambling. New Jersey's gambling laws are among the least restrictive in the United States. In 2013, the state began to allow in-state online gambling. Five years later in 2018, the state won a lawsuit that dismantled Nevada's monopoly on legal sports betting.
Chris Christie took office as the 55th Governor of New Jersey on January 19, 2010, began his second term on January 21, 2014, and left office on January 16, 2018.
Gerald Speziale is an American law enforcement officer and Public Safety Director of the Paterson Police Department and the Paterson Fire Department in Paterson, New Jersey. A former member of the New York City Police Department, Speziale has also served as the Sheriff of Passaic County, New Jersey, as Deputy Police Superintendent - Assistant Director of Public Safety for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, and as Chief of Police for the City of Prichard, Alabama. He has worked as an undercover officer in the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and for the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force while in the NYPD.
The Fort Lee lane closure scandal, better known as Bridgegate, was a political scandal in the U.S. state of New Jersey in 2013 and 2014. It involved a staff member and political appointees of then-governor Chris Christie colluding to create traffic jams in Fort Lee, New Jersey by closing lanes at the main toll plaza for the upper level of the George Washington Bridge.
David Wildstein is an American businessman, former Republican Party politician, and the founder and editor-in-chief of the New Jersey political news website New Jersey Globe. A former mayor of Livingston, New Jersey, he served as a senior official in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey during the administration of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie until 2013, when Wildstein resigned in the midst of a scandal involving traffic lanes closures. On May 1, 2015, he pleaded guilty to two federal felony counts of conspiracy as part of a plea agreement, but his conviction was later overturned.
Bridget Anne Kelly is the former deputy chief of staff to the Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, known for her participation in the Bridgegate scandal.
Philip Kwon is deputy counsel for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a previous nominee for the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Murphy v. Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, 378 U.S. 52 (1964), was a United States Supreme Court case concerning the self-incrimination clause in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court ruled that a state cannot compel a witness to provide testimony that may be incriminating under other State/Federal laws, even if it granted immunity under its own laws. Decided on the same day as Malloy v. Hogan (1964), the Supreme Court reconsidered its previous rulings that the Federal Government could compel witness testimony that could be incriminating under a state's laws, and states could similarly compel testimony that would be incriminating under Federal law.
New York v New Jersey, 598 U. S. 218 (2023), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that New Jersey had the right to unilaterally withdraw from the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor.