Over the long term, however, the Authority is projecting cargogrowth at the port, and is making investments in express rail andother infrastructure to support this growth. "Despite thechallenging economic environment, the Port Authority's facilitiescontinue to outperform other major ports in North America, withcontainer volume at the top 10 ports in North America declining byan average of 5% in 2008," says Scott K. Perkins, managing directorof corporate services at NAI Hanson.

In addition, the Port Authority reports that its $246-millioninvestment last year is helping to support more than 230,000jobs.One of the biggest challenges the port faces in the comingyears is its inability to accommodate larger container ships,particularly those that will enter through the Panama Canal in 2014when its expansion is complete.

The Bayonne Bridge, which stands 151 feet over the Kill Van Kulltidal straight at its highest point, is too low to accommodatethese ships. "In addition to dredging the waters to a 50-footdepth, the Port of New York and New Jersey announced last year thatthe raising or replacing of the Bayonne Bridge could be upwards of$2 billion," Perkins tells GlobeSt.com. "The bridge is the largestobstacle facing growth in the port," says Richard Larrabee, thePort Authority's port commerce director.