Encompassing an area within an approximate 25-mile (40 km) radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, the port district comprises all or part of seventeen counties in the region.

Abutting sections of Passaic, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, and Somerset in New Jersey, and Nassau, Westchester, and Rockland in New York are also within the district.

During World War II the main channel was dredged to 45 feet (14 m) deep to accommodate larger ships up to Panamax size.

[25] In June 2009 it was announced that 200,000 cubic yards of dredged PCBs would be "cleaned" and stored en masse at the site of the former Yankee Stadium and at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

[27] A project to replace two water mains between Brooklyn and Staten Island, which will eventually allowing for dredging of the channel to nearly 100 feet (30 m), was begun in April 2012.

[10] The estuary was originally the territory of the Lenape, a seasonally migrational people who would relocate summer encampments along its shore and use its waterways for transport and fishing.

Many of the tidal salt marshes supported vast oyster banks that remained a major source of food for the region until the end of the 19th century, by which time contamination and landfilling had obliterated most of them.

[dubious – discuss] European colonization began after Henry Hudson's 1609 exploration of the region with the establishment of New Amsterdam, the capital of the Dutch province of New Netherland at the tip of Manhattan.

The British colonial era saw a concerted effort to expand the port in the triangular trade between Europe, Africa, and North America with a concentration of wharves along the mouth of the East River.

After the Battle of Brooklyn, the British controlled the harbor for the duration of American Revolutionary War, and prison ships housed thousands at Wallabout Bay.

[35] This coincided with the immigration of millions, processed at Castle Clinton and later at Ellis Island, some staying in the region, others boarding barges, ships, and trains to points across the United States.

[37] During the World Wars the waterfront supported shipyards and military installations such as the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company and the Brooklyn Navy Yard and played an important role in troop transport as a Port of Embarkation.

[citation needed] After the end of World War I, the 1919 New York City Harbor Strike shut down the port for weeks.

[42] The CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt, the largest ship to call at an East Coast port, passed under the raised Bayonne Bridge in July 2017.

[41] The Port Authority maintains its own police force, as does the Waterfront Commission, created in 1953 to investigate, prosecute, and prevent criminal activity.

[45][46] The United States Coast Guard deals with issues such as floatable debris,[47] spills, vessel rescues, and counter-terrorism.

[55] The Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey, the Teamsters, and the International Longshoremen's Association assist and represent some of the port's mariners and dockworkers.

FedEx Express, the world's busiest cargo airline, uses Newark Liberty International Airport as its regional hub.

[61] The agency is expected to develop a terminal capable of handling the larger container ships to be in service once the new, wider Panama Canal opens in 2014, some of which would not have passed under the original Bayonne Bridge at the Kill van Kull.

As of 2023, the terminals experienced a more severe reduction in cargo volume compared to California seaports, resulting in the Port of Los Angeles reclaiming its position as the nation's busiest.

The development of dockside trackage and railyards for transloading has been overseen by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey which works in partnership other public and private stakeholders.

[74] At the Greenville end, CSX Transportation operates through Conrail's North Jersey Shared Assets Area along the National Docks Secondary.

[76] In May 2010, the Port Authority announced that it would purchase the Greenville Yard and build a new barge-to-rail facility there, as well as improve the existing railcar float system.

[79][80][81] To instantiate PIDN, the PANYNJ signed an agreement November 29, 2003 with the Port of Albany to provide twice weekly barge service.

[85] The golden age of the North Atlantic ocean liner lasted from the end of the 19th century to the post–World War II period, after which innovations in air travel became commercially viable.

While many cruises are to points in the Caribbean and to the Southern Hemisphere, there are also ships calling at the port that sail transatlantically, notably RMS Queen Mary 2 with a scheduled service to Southampton, England.

In addition to regular and rush hour routes, there are excursions, trips, and seasonal service to Gateway National Recreation Area beaches.

[91] There are both historic and modern lighthouses throughout the port, some of which have been decommissioned[104][105] Channelization and landfilling began in the colonial era and continued well into the 20th century.

Harbor-related historic sites, promenades, and nature preserves within the port district include: In 2010, 4,811 ships entered the harbor carrying over 32.2 million metric tons of cargo valued at over $175 billion.

[117] In 2010, the New York-New Jersey Port industry supported:[118] Approximately 3.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of containers and 700,000 automobiles are handled per year.