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New York's Fast Growing Ports Move To Unseat LA's
By
Garth Johnston
Published Aug 6, 2012
Modified Aug 6, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Aug 6, 2012
Modified Aug 6, 2012
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New York City has a long history as a major port, but with all the business and arts and fashion and tourism that can be easy to forget. And then along comes a report saying we're on track to possibly jump from third place to first in the running for the largest trade region in the nation, and it all comes back. Take that LA and Long Beach—you may be tops now, but our traffic is growing faster!
"It is not inconceivable that New York could surpass Los Angeles as the largest trade area in the country," Eugene Spruck, a Weissman Center fellow and former chief economist for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, told Crain's. This past June was the second-best June on record, with 276,225 container "lifts" and rail and ruck traffic both up over the year prior, by 9.9% and 28.9%, respectively.
Of course, there are catches—our ports are still dominated by imports rather than exports and things can change quickly. But still, it's nice to know that our trade region—which includes the Port Authority's four major seaports: Port Jersey Marine Terminal in Bayonne and Jersey City; Brooklyn Port Authority Marine Terminal, comprising the Brooklyn Piers and Red Hook Container Terminal; Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island; and Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal as well as the area's major airports—is doing well.
Plus: with the project to double the capacity of the Panama Canal well on its way, there is little reason to expect our port's fortune fading in the near future. Globalization!
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Garth Johnston
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