Port Authority sold rights to World Trade Center name for $10 in 1986

[Renew Deal]

Port Authority sold rights to World Trade Center name for $10 in 1986

For more than four decades, the World Trade Center — whether standing majestically over lower Manhattan, lying in the ruins of a terrorist attack, or awaiting resurrection in a new form — has been one of the world’s greatest public landmarks.

But in a quiet deal nearly 30 years ago, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey sold off the rights to the iconic buildings’ name to a non-profit organization established by one of its powerful executives.

The price was $10.

Until his death this year, the former executive, Guy Tozzoli, earned millions primarily by licensing the name through the group, the World Trade Centers Association. And the Port Authority is among the hundreds of licensees around the world paying thousands of dollars each year for the privilege of using the words “World Trade Center.”
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http://www.northjersey.com/news/Port_Authority_sold_World_Trade_Center_name_rights_for_10_in_1986_deal_earning_millions_for_group_run_by_ex-PA_exec.html

Mystery deepens over $10 World Trade Center deal

The Port Authority said Monday that it had no record of its governing board approving a 1986 deal that handed over ownership of the World Trade Center name for $10. And the agency’s top executive at the time said he didn’t recall it ever coming across his desk.

That added to the mystery surrounding how the Port Authority came to sell the vaunted name of its Manhattan landmark to a group run by a retiring agency executive who made millions in the years that followed.
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The World Trade Centers Association, meanwhile, defended its stewardship of the name it inherited a quarter-century ago, and said the deal was far from a “secret” pact, as described by the Port Authority’s deputy executive, Bill Baroni, a Christie appointee. Baroni, who was appointed in 2010, said he had never dealt with the group and called for a “review” of its activities.

The group was founded in 1970 by Port Authority executive Guy Tozzoli to replicate the World Trade Center concept around the globe. Tozzoli died this year. The group says it still promotes world trade, but it also advertises the World Trade Center brand as a way for developers to get higher rents and occupancy rates, and it brings in millions each year off the rights to the name.
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http://www.northjersey.com/news/Christie_administration_condemns_1986_Port_Authority_deal_to_sell_rights_to_World_Trade_Center_name_for_10.html

NY Toll Authority Out of Control

What public entity would feel free to transfer valuable naming rights to a retiring executive and pay royalties for 27 years? Answer: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, owner of the world’s busiest bridges and tunnels and the iconic World Trade Center complex.

In an unbelievable story, the Bergen Record reported that in 1986 the Authority sold the naming rights to the World Trade Center to a foundation set up by one of its retiring executives for $10. A stunning example of a conflict of interest gone wild, the executive went on to rake in millions of dollars in profits as a result of the golden parachute transfer. Incredibly, Authority officials still insist that they don’t need any oversight.

After the story came to light the Authority’s Executive Director had the sense to call the sale a “shameful episode” and the Governor called for an investigation by the Attorney General, but the real issue is how this shocking deal survived for nearly three decades.

Meanwhile, the Authority continues to turn its back on public accountability. A recent report by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticized the Authority’s lack of transparency or oversight when subjecting the public to toll increases.
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http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aaa_ny/ct_201311/index.php#/8