NY Port Authority Cop Out Earns Trump; Payroll Rises by $150M in 2019

By: Elmer Klydell

Payroll for Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) in calendar year 2019 increased by more than $150 million, according to data provided by The Empire Center.

The group, based in Albany, NY, is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies that can make New York a better place to live, work and raise a family. The information was released on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency website.

Payroll at Port Authority totaled more than $997 million last year, an 18 percent increase from $845 million in payroll in 2018, the organization reported. This includes an increase of more than $30 million in overtime and an almost $18 million increase in other extra pay such as shift differentials and holiday pay. The average pay among all Port Authority employees was $114,391 in 2019. The median pay was $107,587.

The highest paid group of employees, the Port Authority Police Department, were paid total average earnings of $144,929 in 2019, Empire Center reported. Of the 2,118 Port Authority police department employees, 124 were paid at least $100,000 in overtime.

“Of the 1,970 Port Authority police officers in 2019, defined as members of the Police Benevolent Association, 69 were paid at least $100,000 in overtime, increasing the total overtime payments for the Port Authority police to $86 million, an increase of $16 million from 2018. Their average pay was $149,097.

“In total, more than 55 percent of the 8,721 Port Authority employees in 2019 were paid six-figures, including 74 percent of the Port Authority Police Department. The number of employees who were paid more than $200,000 in 2019 more than doubled from 243 to 688. Employees paid more than $300,000 increased from four to 53 in 2019.”

The Authority is also paying nearly $214 million in retroactive wages. The largest retro payment was $164,043 paid to a retiree who is now deceased.

The three highest paid employees, including overtime and other extra pay, were:

Regina Womack, police sergeant, with a total pay of $423,467, including $259,717 in overtime on top of her annual rate of $136,000, with $105,800 more slated to come in retro-payments;

Bernard Buckner, police sergeant, with total pay of $376,040, including $204,968 in overtime, $39,241 in extra pay and $131,831 in base pay, and is set to receive $106,603 in retro-payments; and

Nicholas Yum, police lieutenant, with total pay of $374,588, including $168,022 in overtime, $57,214 in extra pay and $149,352 in base pay, while also being slated to earn $99,075 in retro-payments.