Ralph Berlangieri made $102,700 last year. He’s not an executive or a lawyer or an engineer. He’s a Port Authority gardener who cares for trees, shrubs and flowers at Newark Airport.

“I have a nephew who has a college degree, and he doesn’t make that kind of money,” said Berlangieri, who has worked for the bistate agency since 1975. “He told me he wants to get a job at the Port Authority.”

Berlangieri’s base pay last year was $63,700. He added $39,000, mostly through overtime.

“If they’re going to offer it to me, I’m not going to turn it down,” he said.

Berlangieri’s hefty take-home haul is hardly an aberration. A Daily News analysis of Port Authority payroll records also found two cops who made more than one-quarter million dollars each last year, an electrician who pulled in $124,000 and a garage attendant whose total pay was $67,300.

The records also show there were 19 gardeners on the books last year making an average of $76,000, including overtime and shift differentials.

The agency has more than 6,200 full-time employees, who averaged $71,900 each in base pay last year. Records show that with all other forms of compensation added, such as overtime and differentials, the average annual pay jumped to $90,200 per employee.

Some other annual average earnings by position, including overtime and other pay:

Police – $116,700

Electricians – $96,000

Plumbers – $82,900

Garage attendants – $62,600

Toll collectors – $54,300

Port Authority Executive Director Anthony Shorris admitted that a gardener making $102,700 “sounds crazy” and said he has begun a review of compensation levels at the authority.

“What really concerns me is the issue of overtime,” said Shorris, who was appointed to the top job in January.

Last year, records show, the PA paid out $72.6 million in overtime.

Shorris said he wants to be sure that overtime is being effectively managed by supervisors and that “individuals aren’t gaming the system to drive up pensions.”

Top-paid individuals included police Sgt. John Rienzie ($270,200); Officer Frank Gato ($255,900); electrician John Manbretti ($124,000); plumber John Santoro ($119,000); toll collector Clarence Tanksley ($86,700) and garage attendant Reginald Bowers ($67,300).

The records show that Rienzie’s base salary was $100,800, increased by $130,500 in overtime and $38,900 in other earnings, including differentials. Gato’s base salary was only $80,500, according to the records.

Port Authority records also show two “salad makers” on the payroll; they earned more than $40,000 each. A PA spokesman said the job title does not mean these two only make salads, but are general cafeteria workers.

In total, the Port Authority payroll topped $560 million last year, with more than 35% of all full-time employees topping the $100,000 mark.

The agency is much more generous than local and state government employers. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average full-time government worker in the New York area made $56,000 in base pay last year.

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