Vote by Port Authority Chairman David Samson raises ethical question

Questions are being raised about a high-ranking Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official’s support for a $256 million reconstruction of a rundown PATH station in northern Jersey.

The Record reports Port Authority Chairman David Samson voted for the project three months after a builder represented by his law firm proposed converting a nearby warehouse into hundreds of luxury apartments.

Samson, now embroiled in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure controversy, was not the only commissioner with ties to land around the train station.

The newspaper says Commissioner David Steiner also voted for the station’s massive overhaul. That came four months after he secured rights to build a 20-story apartment complex on another key parcel of land along the Passaic River, a half-mile from the commuter train stop.