[prottog]

I agree with all of your points, but in cases of monopoly or oligopoly you can't place all of the blame on the consumer. It seems like a simple way for this problem to fix itself is for the Port Authority to allow more competition among concessionaires in the terminals; the article doesn't make it clear how much competition there really is.

As noted elsewhere in this thread, the Port Authority is one of the most corrupt government organizations you could find, so it would be unsurprising if it ended up being that there were two or three parent companies behind all the concessionaires.