{{Short description|American businessman and government official}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Austin J. Tobin | image = | caption = | order = | office = Director of the Port of New York Authority | term_start = 1942 | term_end = 1972 | appointer = | predecessor = John E. Ramsey | successor = Matthias Lukens | birth_name = Austin Joseph Tobin | birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|5|25}} | birth_place = Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1978|2|8|1903|5|25}} | death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. | education = {{ubl|College of the Holy Cross (BA)|Fordham University (LLB)}} }}
'''Austin Joseph Tobin''' (May 25, 1903 – February 8, 1978) was an American businessman who served as the executive director of the Port of New York Authority, the precursor to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, from 1942 until 1972.<ref name=obit/>
Tobin is widely known for authorizing the construction of the original World Trade Center, which was destroyed during the September 11 attacks in 2001.
== Background == Tobin was born on May 25, 1903, to an Irish-American family in Brooklyn, New York City. He was educated at the College of the Holy Cross and Fordham Law School.
Tobin joined the Port Authority in 1927, where he served the first 15 years of his career in the law department. He started out as a law clerk, and was promoted to assistant general counsel in 1935.<ref name="glanz-p42">{{cite book |title=City in the Sky |url=https://archive.org/details/cityinskyris00glan |url-access=registration |author=Glanz, James and Eric Lipton |publisher=Times Books |year=2003 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cityinskyris00glan/page/42 42]|isbn=9780805074284 }}</ref> In 1942, he was appointed as executive director of the Port Authority.<ref name="glanz-p42"/> During his thirty years as executive director, the agency gained control of LaGuardia Airport, Idlewild (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport), and Newark Airport. He oversaw the development of the original World Trade Center, the creation of the Lincoln Tunnel, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal.<ref name="Doig, Jameson 2001" /> When Mr. Tobin joined the agency as a law clerk it had 300 employees. When he retired as executive director in 1972, the agency had 8,000 employees and an investment of $2.6 billion in bridges, airports, ship terminals and other facilities, including the vast World Trade Center.<ref name=obit/>
{{Multiple image | direction = vertical | image1 = World Trade Center, New York. Exterior. Entrance Sphere at Plaza Fountain sculpture. Overhead view - LCCN2021637339 (cropped).jpg | caption1 = Austin J. Tobin Plaza in 1976 | image2 = Austin Tobin Plaza Marriott World Trade Center - 1995.jpg | caption2 = Austin J. Tobin Plaza in 1995 }}
Tobin is noted for his difference of style from Robert Moses -- most particularly, for his relocation of bus terminal tenants.<ref name="Doig, Jameson 2001">{{cite book |title=Empire on the Hudson |url=https://archive.org/details/empireonhudson00jame |url-access=registration |author=Doig, Jameson |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2001}}</ref> Tobin also is noted for prioritizing mass transit more than Moses did. Tobin and Moses worked together to help fund and build the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge and the Throgs Neck Bridge.<ref>{{cite book |author=Plotch, Philip M. and Jen Nelles |url=https://www.press.umich.edu//12009801 |title=Mobilizing the Metropolis: How the Port Authority Built New York |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2023}}</ref>
In 1966, Tobin received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York".
He died on February 8, 1978, in Manhattan, New York City, at the age of 74.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Austin J. Tobin, Executive Director Of Port Authority for 30 Years, Dies. A Target of Criticism. Worked Long Hours. Took Top Position in 1942 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/09/archives/austin-j-tobin-executive-director-of-port-authority-for-30-years.html |work=The New York Times |date=February 9, 1978|last=Prial|first=Frank J.|access-date=June 17, 2008 }}</ref>
==Legacy== === Austin J. Tobin Plaza === {{Main|Austin J. Tobin Plaza}} In 1982, the Port Authority decided to rename the outdoor plaza at the World Trade Center as the Austin J. Tobin Plaza<ref>{{cite web |title=Bench, Recovered |url=https://collection.911memorial.org/Detail/objects/6268 |publisher=National September 11 Memorial & Museum |access-date=October 16, 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref> in his honor. The centerpiece of the plaza was ''The Sphere'', a 25-foot tall bronze sculpture designed by Fritz Koenig. The plaza was destroyed during the September 11 attacks in 2001. The National September 11 Memorial now occupies the site.
==See also== * Christopher O. Ward
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |title=Empire on the Hudson |url=https://archive.org/details/empireonhudson00jame |url-access=registration |author=Doig, Jameson W. |isbn= 0-231-07677-0 |year=2002 |publisher=Columbia University Press}} * Plotch, Philip M. and Jen Nelles (2023), [https://www.press.umich.edu//12009801 ''Mobilizing the Metropolis: How the Port Authority Built New York.''] University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472056132.
{{World Trade Center|state=expanded}} {{Henry Laurence Gantt Medal|state=collapsed}} {{PANYNJ navbox}} {{Executive Director's of PANYNJ}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobin, Austin J.}} Category:1903 births Category:1978 deaths Category:American businesspeople in the real estate industry Category:College of the Holy Cross alumni Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Port Authority of New York and New Jersey people Category:Henry Laurence Gantt Medal recipients Category:20th-century American engineers Category:World Trade Center Category:Fordham University School of Law alumni