The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spent more than $1.2 billion on employee pay in 2025, while 20 workers cleared $400,000 each. The numbers put overtime, police staffing and public-authority compensation back in the spotlight across the region.
A Tuesday analysis by Empire Center for Public Policy found that total payroll rose 5% from $1.15 billion in 2024, reaching more than $1.2 billion across 8,356 employees. Average pay increased 3%, from $139,450 to $144,033, while 6,272 workers received six-figure total payments.
Police Ranks Dominate The Port Authority’s Top Pay
The public payroll records posted on SeeThroughNY show Police Lieutenant Nicholas Feferico at the top with $466,775 in total pay, including $215,717 in overtime. The top 100 earners included 68 Police Department employees and 18 from Aviation, while 94 workers received more than Executive Director Richard Cotton’s $327,918.
Overtime drove much of the eye-popping compensation. The Empire Center analysis found that the authority paid $196 million in overtime to 5,711 employees, with 323 workers receiving more than $100,000 in overtime alone.
The Police Department accounted for $85 million, or 43%, of all Port Authority overtime despite representing 24% of the workforce. Police overtime averaged $42,997, and 189 police employees crossed the $100,000 overtime mark; the largest overtime payment overall went to Operations Chief Maintenance Supervisor Reginald Bowers, who received $231,916 in overtime and $421,041 in total pay.
A Bi-State Agency With A Massive Infrastructure Footprint
The compensation figures come from the agency that operates a sprawling regional network of airports, bridges, tunnels, bus terminals, PATH rail service, seaport facilities and the World Trade Center. The Port Authority describes itself as a bi-state agency responsible for major transportation and trade infrastructure serving New York and New Jersey.
The agency also says its roughly $10 billion annual budget receives no tax revenue from New York, New Jersey or New York City and is financed primarily through its own credit. That distinction adds nuance, but it does not make the payroll figures any less relevant to commuters, travelers and businesses that rely on the authority’s facilities every day.
Not every large payment signals wrongdoing: overtime, shift differentials, one-time payments and longevity pay can reflect around-the-clock operations, staffing gaps, labor agreements and specialized work. Still, with overtime equal to 16% of total payroll and two-thirds of employees receiving some overtime, the latest records show an agency where the biggest checks are being built well beyond base salary.
