Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed legislation for New York to recreate a new waterfront commission to fight the kind of Mafia corruption made famous in Marlon Brando’s 1954 flick “On The Waterfront.”
But the union representing dock workers in the Empire State said Hochul is living in the past and urged lawmakers to sink the measure.
Hochul proposed the new waterfront unit for New York’s side of the harbor to replace the prior Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, a bi-state agency founded in 1953 by a Congressionally authorized compact between New York and New Jersey.
But the bi-state agency dissolved last year after New Jersey pulled out after 70 years, saying it was a relic that was impeding port business.
Empire State officials sued New Jersey to keep the bi-state commission intact — saying anti-corruption enforcement remained essential — but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Garden State had a legal right to sever the contract.
New Jersey has turned over licensing and enforcement of shipping on its side of the Hudson to its state police, in what officials claim is a much more streamlined and cargo-friendly process.
But Hochul wants to replicate what critics say is an outdated and cumbersome system.
A rep for the dock workers union called the proposed commission “useless and incomprehensible.”
“No other state on the East Coast has one. They have negatively impacted the port’s hiring system. For years the ILA has been mistreated by this Commission,” said James “Cadillac” McMahon, a lobbyist representing the International Longshoremen’s Association..
“We are no longer in 1953 with Marlon Brando `On the Waterfront.’ We oppose this new budget proposal and believe the State shouldn’t spend $5 million to fund them now that Jersey left,” added McMahon.
As in New Jersey, the state police in New York “can easily pick up the licensing and longshoreman review process. The longshoreman review process should be no different than other industries’ licensing processes.” the ILA rep said.
But Hochul said a special commission is still needed to monitor criminality in the port’s shipping and cargo industry on the waterfront.
“Although law enforcement’s efforts against traditional organized crime influence have been successful, such influence remains a significant threat in the New York metropolitan area, particularly in the port,” the governor’s bill states.
“Continued oversight is essential to ensure fair and nondiscriminatory hiring practices, to eliminate labor racketeering and the victimization of legitimate union members and port businesses, and to prevent organized crime figures from directly operating at the critical points of interstate and international shipping.”
Under the bill, Hoch would nominate a commissioner of the new entity, who must be confirmed by the state Senate.