Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin has appointed influential labor leader Anthony Abrantes to serve as a commissioner of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
Abrantes is the Assistant Executive Secretary-Treasurer for the Eastern Atlantic State Regional Council of Carpenters, where he represents more than 42,000 union carpenters in New Jersey and five other states.
The NJSEA oversees the Meadowlands complex, although a joint venture between the two NFL teams that play at MetLife Stadium, the Giants and the Jets, operates the stadium.
The move by Coughlin further cements his relationship with one of the state’s most politically powerful labor unions, and with Abrantes, who has played an increasingly important role within that union.
As a direct appointment by the Speaker, Abrantes takes office immediately and is not inconvenienced by the Senate confirmation process.
He previously served on the New Jersey Transit Board and has been involved in numerous labor groups. He also served on transition teams for Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Jersey City Mayor James Solomon. Abrantes is co-host of the Labor Lounge podcast. He was a delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Abrantes succeeds Robert J. Dowd, a former North Bergen police chief who had been named to the post by ex-Speaker Vincent Prieto. Coughlin ousted Prieto after the 2017 election; the appointment is another sign of the waning political influence of North Bergen mayor (and former State Senator) Nicholas Sacco.
