Twenty Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) employees collected more than $400,000 each in total pay last year, while average pay agencywide rose three percent, according to 2025 payroll data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
The Port Authority manages key regional infrastructure in New York and New Jersey, including JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports; bridges and tunnels; train and bus terminals; and the World Trade Center site.
Total payroll for the Port Authority surpassed $1.2 billion, up five percent from $1.15 billion in 2024. Average pay rose three percent, from $139,450 to $144,033, across 8,356 employees.
More than three-quarters of the workforce (6,272 employees) received six-figure payments. Of the top 100 highest earners, 68 worked in the Police Department and 18 worked in the Aviation Department.
- Police Lieutenant Nicholas Feferico topped the list with total pay of $466,775, including $215,717 in overtime. The next highest-paid employees were:
- Dewan Maharaj, Detective Sergeant, $448,612 total pay including $147,937 in overtime.
- Robert Zafonte Jr, Detective Sergeant, $448,601 total pay including $139,193 in overtime.
- Jaime Sandoz, Police Lieutenant, $443,452 total pay including $211,481 in overtime.
- William Kruesi, Detective Sergeant, $442,381 total pay including $143,111 in overtime.
A total of 94 employees received more than Executive Director Richard Cotton’s total pay of $327,918.
Top Officers Make Bank in Overtime
Eight of the top payees collected more than $200,000 each in overtime alone. The Chief Maintenance Supervisor at the Operations Department, Reginald Bowers, was the top overtime recipient ($231,916), with a total pay of $421,041. Six others worked for the Police Department, and one worked in Aviation.
A total of 323 employees collected more than $100,000 each in overtime last year. The payments were most common in the Police Department, where 189 employees topped that threshold and overtime averaged $42,997.
Among employees with six-figure overtime, the largest groups outside the Police Department worked in Aviation (88), Rail Transit (25) and Operations Services (15), with smaller numbers spread across other departments.
Overtime spending totaled $196 million for 5,711 employees, or an average of $34,388 among overtime recipients.
Two-thirds of all employees received overtime payments, which accounted for 16 percent of total payroll.
In addition to regular and overtime pay, employee compensation included differential payments ($32.2 million), one-time payments ($20.9 million) and longevity pay ($19.0 million).
Among major departments, the Port Authority Police had the highest average pay, at $184,949 for 1,968 employees, driven in part by the highest average overtime, at $42,997. Overall, the Police Department paid $85 million in overtime — 43 percent of all Port Authority overtime — while accounting for only 24 percent of its workforce.
Among the other major departments, Aviation averaged $151,461 in total pay for 1,606 employees, while Engineering averaged $136,588 for 566 employees.
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.
Cover Image Credit: Roger Rowlett, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
