Eleven Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) employees collected more than $400,000 each in total pay last year as average pay surged nine percent, according to 2024 payroll data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Six of the top payees collected more than $200,000 each in overtime alone. Port Authority Police Officer Melvin Cruz was both the Authority’s top overtime recipient ($287,713) and its highest-paid employee with total pay of $475,599. Three others also worked for the Police Department, one worked in Operations, and one at the Office of the Inspector General.
A total of 316 employees last year collected over $100,000 each in overtime. High overtime payments were most prevalent in the Police Department, where 201 employees collected more than $100,000 in overtime compensation, and, overall, overtime payments averaged $47,350.
The other employees who topped $100,000 in overtime worked in Aviation (66), Rail Transit (25), Operations Services (17), Tunnels, Bridges and Terminals (5) and the Office of the Inspector General (2).
Overtime spending totaled $194 million for 5,547 employees, averaging $35,079. Two thirds of all employees received overtime payments, which comprised 17 percent of total payroll.
Total payroll for the Port Authority surpassed $1.15 billion, averaging $139,450 for its 8,282 employees. Average pay surged nine percent in a year from $128,317 in 2023, as total pay rose five percent ($1.1 billion in 2023) while employee count reduced by three percent (8,541 in 2023).
More than two-thirds of the workforce (5,994) received six-figure payments. Of the top 100 highest earners, 65 were from the Police Department, followed by 20 from the Aviation Department. After Melvin Cruz, the highest earning employees were:
- Daniel Rhein, Police Lieutenant, $450,478 total pay including $129,351 in overtime.
- Victoria Lubeck, Detective Lieutenant, $431,451 total pay including $200,693 in overtime.
- Michael Scivetti, Police Sergeant, $425,727 total pay including $146,530 in overtime.
- Robert Zafonte Jr, Detective Sergeant, $421,947 total pay including $139,637 in overtime.
A total of 107 employees received more than the Executive Director, Richard Cotton’s total pay of $317,607.
In addition to regular and overtime pay, employee compensation included other categories such as Differential Payments ($31.3 million), one-time payments ($21.9 million), and Longevity Pay ($17.7 million).
The Empire Center, based in Albany, 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.
