Is Fort Lee, New Jersey, Within the Port District of NY and NJ?

February 17, 2014 9:50 PM

This is essentially a legal question. Is Fort Lee New Jersey within the Port District of New York and New Jersey? The Port District is the area which the two states described the area that the Port Authority would be responsible for controlling on port matters when they set up the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. I want to know if Fort Lee, New Jersey, is within that area. The exact description, which I have no idea how to plot is below. I'm hoping someone can just point me to a document proving it or a map of the Port District with either Fort Lee in or out of the district. Or its so obvious I don't even need to have a map.

the legal description of the land area is exactly as follows:

Beginning at a point A of latitude forty-one degrees and four minutes north and longitude seventy-three degrees and fifty-six minutes west, said point being about sixty-five hundredths of a mile west of the westerly bank of the Hudson river and about two and one-tenth miles northwest of the pier at Piermont, in the county of Rockland, state of New York; thence due south one and fifteen-hundredths miles more or less to a point B of latitude forty-one degrees and three minutes north and longitude seventy-three degrees and fifty-six minutes west; said point being about one and three-tenths miles northwest of the pier at Piermont, in the county of Rockland, state of New York; thence south fifty-six degrees and thirty-four minutes west six and twenty-six hundredths miles more or less to a point C of latitude forty-one degrees and no minutes north and longitude seventy-four degrees and two minutes west, said point being about seven-tenths of a mile north of the railroad station at Westwood, in the county of Bergen, state of New Jersey; thence south sixty-eight degrees and twenty-four minutes west nine and thirty-seven hundredths miles more or less to a point D of latitude forty degrees and fifty-seven minutes north and longitude seventy-four degrees and twelve minutes west, said point [being] about three miles northwest of the business center of the city of Paterson, in the county of Passaic, state of New Jersey; thence south forty-seven degrees and seventeen minutes west eleven and eighty-seven hundredths miles more or less to a point E of latitude forty degrees and fifty minutes north and longitude seventy-four degrees and twenty-two minutes west, said point being about four and five-tenths miles west of the borough of Caldwell, in the county of Morris [Essex], state of New Jersey; thence due south nine and twenty-hundredths miles more or less to a point F of latitude forty degrees and forty-two minutes north and longitude seventy-four degrees and twenty-two minutes west, said point being about one and two-tenths miles southwest of the passenger station of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in the city of Summit, in the county of Union, state of New Jersey; thence south forty-two degrees and twenty-four minutes, west seven and seventy-eight-hundredths miles more or less to a point G of latitude forty degrees and thirty-seven minutes north and longitude seventy-four degrees and twenty-eight minutes west, said point being about two and two-tenths miles west of the business center of the city of Plainfield, in the county of Somerset, state of New Jersey; thence due south twelve and sixty-five hundredths miles more or less on [to] a line passing about one mile west of the business center of the city of New Brunswick to a point H of latitude forty degrees and twenty-six minutes north and longitude seventy-four degrees and twenty-eight minutes west, said point being about four and five-tenths miles southwest of the city of New Brunswick, in the county of Middlesex, state of New Jersey; thence south seventy-seven degrees and forty-two minutes east ten and seventy-nine hundredths miles more or less to a point I of latitude forty degrees and twenty-four minutes north and longitude seventy-four degrees and sixteen minutes west, said point being about two miles southwest of the borough of Matawan, in the county of Middlesex [Monmouth], state of New Jersey; thence due east twenty-five and forty-eight hundredths miles more or less, crossing the county of Monmouth, state of New Jersey, and passing about one and four-tenths miles south of the pier of the Central Railroad of New Jersey at Atlantic Highlands to a point J of latitude forty degrees and twenty-four minutes north and longitude seventy-three degrees and forty-seven minutes west, said point being in the Atlantic ocean;

Asking for a friend.

posted by Ironmouth to Law & Government (8 answers total)

Well, yes, given that Ft. Lee's George Washington Bridge (of recent scandal...) is run by the Port Authority.

(That, and the fact that the northern geographical limit of the PA is "Rockland County NY", which is well north of Ft. Lee.)
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 9:53 PM on February 17, 2014

Best answer: Wiki has a link to the original (1921) map of the Port Authority, which matches your description.

Ft. Lee is definitely included.

(Assuming that the "Port District" is the same as today's "Port Authority".)
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 10:00 PM on February 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you so much. That's exactly what I needed.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:03 PM on February 17, 2014

(You're welcome - that was actually fun to look up.)
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 10:05 PM on February 17, 2014

Response by poster: Just to be clear, the Port Authority is given authority to manage the ports and waterways within those legal boundaries. But it plays a role in another situation too.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:09 PM on February 17, 2014

Just want to point out (since it won't be on the 1921 map) that the site of the Tappan Zee Bridge was chosen to be as close as possible to NYC but be outside the Port Authority's borders. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tappan_Zee_Bridge#History It's north of Fort Lee (map)
posted by cali59 at 2:50 AM on February 18, 2014 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Cali59, thanks, that puts it into perspective.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:34 AM on February 18, 2014

I understand from the recent news that the Port Authority also runs the Atlantic City airport, which is outside the formal district, and there was some controversy when they undertook that work.

And also, that informally the district is considered to cover a 25-mile radius around the Statue of Liberty.

Again, these are from the news, haven't done any research.
posted by JimN2TAW at 3:41 PM on February 18, 2014