Christie's Port Authority Deputy Leaving for NYU Amid Overhaul

Deborah Gramiccioni, appointed by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie 13 months ago to help restore accountability at the Port Authority, is stepping down to take a management job at New York University Law School.

Gramiccioni was named deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey in December 2013 to replace Bill Baroni, who resigned amid a scandal over deliberate traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge. Previously, she was Christie's deputy chief of staff for policy.

The deputy post at the Port Authority is being eliminated as the agency implements an overhaul recommended by a panel set up by Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The plan calls for consolidating management under a single chief executive officer. Under the current setup, New York's governor names an executive director and New Jersey’s picks the deputy.

"Structural change is a good thing, even if it ultimately meant the restructuring of my position," Gramiccioni said in a statement released by the authority Friday.

Gramiccioni will leave Feb. 1 to become executive director of the school's Center on the Administration of Criminal Law, according to the authority’s statement.

"Though her departure will be a loss to the staff of the Port Authority and the people of this region that she serves, this opportunity comes at a natural moment when the fundamental reforms we are pursuing will change the leadership structure at the Authority," Christie said.

Lawmakers, transportation advocates and government watchdog groups have pressed for fundamental changes at the 93-year-old Port Authority since emails surfaced last year showing Christie allies helped engineer four days of traffic jams at the bridge in a town whose Democratic mayor didn't endorse him. Christie, a Republican who may run for president in 2016, has denied any knowledge of the plot.

Christie and Cuomo, a Democrat, on Dec. 27 vetoed measures passed in the New York and New Jersey legislatures that would have limited the governors' sway over the agency. Lawmakers in both states are working to revive that legislation.