New Jersey can leave the mob-busting Waterfront Commission without New York’s approval, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The court sided with New Jersey in a unanimous decision by Justice Brett Kavanaugh expected to put the 70-year-old commission out of business.

The bi-state watchdog was created in 1953 to address organized crime racketeering and unfair hiring at the port of New York and New Jersey. New Jersey has sought to unilaterally disband the commission since 2018, arguing that it hurt hiring at the port and had outlived its usefulness.

Kavanaugh wrote that the decision was based on contract law and the language of the compact itself.

“The question presented is straightforward: Does the Waterfront Commission Compact allow New Jersey to unilaterally withdraw from the Compact notwithstanding New York’s opposition? The answer is yes,” the court’s opinion said.

The text of the compact establishing the bi-state commission does not explicitly say how either New York or New Jersey may withdraw, Kavanaugh noted.

The decision said that “default contract-law rule — that contracts calling for ongoing and indefinite performance may be terminated by either party — supports New Jersey’s position in this case.”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy lauded the ruling, saying the dissolution of the bi-state agency was “the right thing to do”

“Over 90 percent of commerce at our ports happens on the New Jersey side, and the New Jersey State Police, one of the finest law enforcement agencies in the nation, is more than capable of taking on the Commission’s law enforcement and regulatory responsibilities,” Murphy said in a statement. “For many years, frustration over the Commission’s operations has been building.”

“I am proud that after a five-year battle in the federal courts, where my Administration used every legal tool at our disposal, New Jersey’s sovereign right to govern our ports has been vindicated,” he added.

Gov. Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James issued a joint statement lamenting the ruling, saying they were “disappointed.”

“For decades, the Waterfront Commission has been a vital law enforcement agency, protecting essential industries at the port and cracking down on organized crime,” the statement said. “We will continue to do everything in our power to combat corruption and crime, protect the health of our economy, and ensure the safety of New Yorkers.”

Lawyers for the state of New Jersey have portrayed mob influence and corruption on the docks as a thing of the past.

Recent Waterfront Commission reports found hundreds of longshoremen raking in upwards of $400,000 per year by way of “special deals” that let them put in for up to 27 hours of work a day, seven days a week.

In 2020, law enforcement officials told the Daily News that many of those getting paid for more hours than exist in a week had connections to organized crime or to high-ranking members of the International Longshoremen’s Association.

The union’s international president, Harold Daggett, had been accused of having ties to organized crime families — though he’s twice been acquitted of alleged mob activities.

Daggett celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling Tuesday.

“The Waterfront Commission long ago abandoned its original purpose, and instead took advantage of the fact that it had no oversight by the New Jersey state government,” Daggett said in a statement. “The Commission has used this unfettered power to advance the interests of its own employees, while hurting the hiring and economic needs of the Port.”

“The ILA welcomes the arrival of the New Jersey State Police to the Port of New Jersey, recognizing that they will finally bring professionalism, transparency and accountability to administration of the Port,” he said.

The timing of the changing of the guard at the port remained unclear on Tuesday.

Murphy said he would work with New York officials “to ensure a swift and orderly dissolution of the Commission in a way that ensures security and uninterrupted business at New Jersey’s ports.”