Rob Menendez of Port Authority of NY and NJ | The Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City | Resilient City Transit
Courtesy of Port Authority of NY and NJ
Resilient City Transit
Today we will be talking to Rob Menendez, a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. We will be discussing a major intermodal transit hub in Manhattan’s Times Square, serving 65M people per year, known as the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Located in the heart of Times Square, this project is not only the nation's largest bus terminal but the busiest in the world. As Rob notes, the current plan for the project’s expansion tackles the need to make transit more environmentally friendly in the face of the current climate crisis.
Earlier this month, New York City witnessed an unprecedented amount of rainfall with massive flooding overnight in the state as a result of Hurricane Ida. Join us on this week’s episode as we speak to Rob about how he plans to tackle the rising concerns of the climate crisis, including what the future may hold for green bus transit. We will also discuss how he plans to coalesce the need for minimizing the harmful effects of carbon emissions with The Port Authority.
“The existing terminal was built in 1950. The history of it you get into the Robert Moses days of New York City, it’s fascinating. It was expanded in 1981 to the facility that we all know today. It has 186 gates, 20 bus carriers. It has been used at capacity for several years now. The plan for the new bus terminal provides for a nearly 40% increase in capacity. Calls for a new bus storage and staging facility that responds to community concerns, which we’ll touch on. Incorporates sustainable design elements as almost every single Port Authority project now does. And will enable 100% electric bus operations. It will be a state of the art facility. It will be exceptional.”
Courtesy of Port Authority of NY and NJ
About Rob Menendez
Rob Menendez is a lawyer by trade as well as being a counsel at Lowenstein Sandler, where he focuses on investment management clients, particularly early-stage companies. He also does pro-bono work through the Lowenstein Center for Public Interest, particularly in voter rights, and is a board member of the Hudson School in Hoboken. As the son of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, he grew up in Hudson County and has always had a profound fascination for real estate and public policy. He seeks to incorporate design elements that will improve the experience of individuals by adhering to the latest and best trends of sustainable architecture.
Episode Timestamps
3:16 – How did you become interested in real estate and public policy?
8:35 – For our listeners who may not necessarily appreciate what it is that the Port Authority does, could you explain what it actually does?
13:02 – Tell us some more about the numbers related to this bus terminal project.
17:01 – Could you tell us more about why this particular time is the one to do it? And why do you think this approach is the right approach for addressing the next generation of transportation needs for the metropolitan area?
22:51 – How do you keep a facility like this operating during the course of likely the largest construction project in the United States for that entire duration?
30:47 – You had mentioned the switch to 100% electric vehicles. Could you explain why that matters? And then are there other aspects that are making this project an environmentally sustainable one?
34:42 – In the decisions that you make as a commissioner, what are the ways that you're able to stay above the waves and the winds of politics to actually make good decisions for the next and the next generation of folks in this metropolitan area?
39:22 – Do you, or does the Board of Commissioners, see opportunities for innovation in energy efficiency and climate resiliency for this project?
Connect with Rob Menendez:
Lowstein Sandler
Instagram (Port Authority)
The Port Authority
LinkedIn (Port Authority)
Courtesy of Port Authority of NY and NJ
About your host:
Atif Qadir is the Founder & CEO of Commonplace, a technology company making it easy for commercial real estate professionals to find and use the $100B of real estate incentives given out every year in the US.
His work has been covered by Technology Review, The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, and Propmodo. He’s also a frequent speaker on the future of buildings and cities on popular industry podcasts and at conferences, including this past year at the Commercial Observer National DEI Conference, Yale AREA Conference, Columbia Real Estate Symposium, Open Data Week NYC and Austin Design Week.
About Commonplace
Commonplace is a founding sponsor of American Building. It is a 100% minority-owned, real estate technology company founded in 2020 to make financing social impact development projects across the US easier. It is funded by venture capital investors Hometeam Ventures, Park West Asset Management, New York Ventures and Shadow Ventures.
About Michael Graves
The world-famous design firm Michael Graves is also a founding sponsor of American Building. Its namesake, the iconoclastic designer Michael Graves, FAIA was a fierce advocate for people-centric design. His work defines a generation of American architecture and includes the Portland Building, the Humana Building and the Denver Public Library. The 1st season of American Building was filmed live at The Warehouse, his historic home in Princeton, New Jersey:
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