Governor Murphy Recommends Jerry Zaro as New Gateway Development Corporation Trustee
Governor Murphy Recommends Jerry Zaro as New Gateway Development Corporation Trustee
Trenton – Governor Phil Murphy announced today that he is recommending to the Board of the New Jersey Transit Corporation the appointment of Jerry Zaro to serve on the Board of Trustees of the Gateway Program Development Corporation (GDC), filling the seat of Trustee Richard H. Bagger, who has recently resigned his position on the Board. The GDC is a New Jersey non-profit organization formed in 2016 to oversee and deliver the comprehensive Gateway Program to add resiliency and capacity to a critical segment of the Northeast Corridor (NEC), including the replacement of the Portal North Bridge and the Hudson Tunnel Project.
“I fully support the appointment of Jerry Zaro as New Jersey’s representative to the GDC,” said Governor Murphy. “At this critical juncture in a project that is our number one transportation infrastructure priority, Jerry’s caliber of experience and commitment to service will ensure the state’s best interests and those of our residents are carefully considered.”
Zaro has served the last seven consecutive Governors of New Jersey in a variety of leadership posts, including Chairman of the New Jersey Highway Authority, Commissioner of the NJ Sports and Exposition Authority and as the Chief of the Office of Economic Growth for the State of New Jersey, a cabinet level position. As Chief of the Office of Economic Growth, Zaro made significant strides in promoting and improving the business environment in the State, which contributed to bringing thousands of jobs to New Jersey and helping retain jobs in danger of being relocated elsewhere.
“I thank Governor Murphy for his confidence in entrusting me with this enormous responsibility. Gateway, being the largest infrastructure project in the nation, is vital to both commerce and commuters, not only in the great state of New Jersey, but to our partners in New York and all those along the northeast corridor. To all stakeholders, I pledge to bring every measure of mind and spirit I possess to this critical project,” said Zaro.
Zaro is Chair of Banking and Real Estate Services practice at Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. Formerly, he was President and Managing Partner of Ansell Zaro Grimm and Aaron, and served as the Chair of the Commercial Real Estate and Finance & Banking groups.
He helped to create and then lead the Real Estate Advisory Board, comprised of the leaders in the industry, to identify and eliminate red tape, propose pro-business legislation and attract more businesses to locate in New Jersey. Zaro also worked to develop the widely praised Licensed Site Remediation Professionals Act, which outsources some Department of Environmental Protection applications to private licensed professionals and fast-tracks the application process.
Phase 1 of the Gateway Program is already underway, with Early Work started on the Portal North Bridge Project and environmental approvals pending for the Hudson Tunnel Project. Each is imperative to the functioning of the NEC and those who use it to commute every day. These two projects are single points of failure on the NEC, and a failure at either would be catastrophic to the region and the country. Governor Murphy is committed to fighting for the success of the Gateway Program on behalf of the 50 million Americans who depend on reliable infrastructure daily.
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