More than a half-century after the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor was established in response to the same corrupt conditions that inspired the Marlon Brando film, “On the Waterfront,” New Jersey Sen. Raymond Lesniak said he will introduce a bill to dissolve the watchdog agency and transfer its powers to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Officials from the New York Shipping Association and the International Longshoremen’s Association said during the hearing that the Port of New York and New Jersey would be unfairly burdened by the initiative, under which the commission would appoint independent monitors for companies that failed to demonstrate they were free of criminal influence.