The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey *

Nearly five thousand feet above sea level, in a tiny New York State lake called Tear-of-the-Clouds, rises one of the most important rivers in the United States. Flowing almost straight south for three hundred miles, the Hudson River empties into the Atlantic Ocean, where its excellent natural harbor served to determine the site of New York City. Serving the states of New York and New Jersey, and providing the largest port in the United States, the ‘river in the middle’ has also created its share of jurisdictional crises – for within its water lies the boundary line between the two states.