The Port Authority Standoff

The executive boardroom on the thirty-fourth floor of the Port Authority headquarters in Newark, New Jersey, was a sterile, glass-and-steel chamber overlooking the sprawling container terminals of Port Newark and Elizabeth. Seated around the thirty-foot polished mahogany conference table were eight municipal commissioners, port directors, and corporate attorneys representing international maritime shipping lines. At the head of the table sat Arthur Pendelton—a corrupt, compromised deputy port director whose offshore accounts…