The Port Authority payroll topped $1.2 billion in 2025, driven by soaring overtime and a long list of high earners, including 20 workers who each pulled in $400,000 or more. Seventeen of those top-paid employees were police officers, underscoring how heavily the bistate agency leans on overtime to staff its sprawling transportation network across New York and New Jersey.
Payroll records show eight Port Authority employees collected more than $200,000 in overtime alone. In all, 323 workers earned six figures in overtime, including 189 Port Authority cops. That helped push the agency’s payroll up 5% from the year before. The average pay for the Port Authority’s 8,356 workers rose 3% to $144,033, while overtime spending reached $196 million, or 16% of total payroll. A total of 5,711 employees, or 68%, received overtime last year.
The biggest earner was Police Lt. Nicholas Federico, whose $180,691 base salary was far outpaced by $215,717 in overtime. His total compensation reached $466,775, including fringe benefits. Two detective sergeants, Dewan Maharaj and Robert Zafonte Jr., each took home $448,601. Maharaj’s total included $147,937 in overtime, while Zafonte’s included $139,193. Reginald Bowers, a chief maintenance supervisor, recorded the agency’s largest overtime payout at $231,916, lifting his total compensation to $421,041. His overall pay ranked 11th at the Port Authority.
The Port Authority police force covers tunnels, bridges, airports, rail lines, and bus and shipping terminals throughout the New York-New Jersey region. The officers start at $46,954, a salary that is below what NYPD officers and state troopers make at the outset, but their pay rises to $131,703 in base salary after 10 years on the job. Officials and payroll watchers say that structure helps explain why overtime can become such a major part of annual compensation for many rank-and-file workers, especially in a system that runs around the clock.
The agency’s executive director last year, Richard Cotton, retired in January after making $327,918. His salary was lower than that of 94 subordinates. The Port Authority also oversees the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, making it one of the region’s most sensitive and complex public agencies.
