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Trump officials break ground on new pipeline at Floyd Bennett Field
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Rosemary Misdary
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Liam Quigley
Published Apr 14, 2026
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Liam Quigley / Gothamist
By
Rosemary Misdary
and
Liam Quigley
Published Apr 14, 2026
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Top White House officials on Tuesday celebrated the start of construction on a controversial gas pipeline in Brooklyn that is backed by both Gov. Kathy Hochul and President Donald Trump.
Energy company Williams held the groundbreaking event for the Northeast Supply Enhancement Pipeline near the historic hangars at Floyd Bennett Field amid tight security by the U.S. Park Police. A large American flag hung from two cranes over a segment of a green pipeline.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum were among those in attendance.
“Anyone who is opposing this project was was wrong to do so,” Zeldin said. “But it's never too late for anyone up in Albany seeing what this big announcement means.”
EPA administrator Lee Zeldin
Liam Quigley / Gothamist
No one from Hochul’s administration attended the ceremony. Hochul’s office referred a Gothamist reporter to comments the governor made in approving the pipeline.
Outside the event, just over a dozen protesters chanted and waved signs in opposition to the new pipeline.
The work on the pipeline comes on the heels of the governor's proposal to roll back the state’s climate law as part of annual budget talks. Hochul has framed her approval for new fossil fuel infrastructure projects as part of an all-the-above strategy to “keep the lights on” as the demand for power grows.
Environmentalists, however, see Hochul’s recent moves as ignoring the urgency of climate change. They’ve also questioned why the governor’s office approved the pipeline after previously rejecting it.
“It’s bad enough that Hochul is rolling back her commitments on climate action; allowing projects like the NESE Pipeline to advance without transparency only deepens her betrayal,” said Kim Fraczek, director of Sane Energy Project, using the acronym for Northeast Supply Enhancement Pipeline. “New Yorkers deserve answers before a single shovel hits the ground — not after the costs are locked in.”
State regulators rejected the pipeline project multiple times because it violated water quality laws when its application was first submitted in 2020. The same project was exhumed last year and fast-tracked for approval after the Trump administration pushed its “drill, baby, drill” energy policy. Trump raised the project during negotiations with Hochul over Manhattan’s congestion pricing program, which the president sought to cancel.
During the event, Burgum took aim at former President Joe Biden’s environmental policies.
“President Trump, under his leadership, we're putting energy reality over climate fantasy,” he said.
“That's what today represents. That's why the future of this country has never been brighter, and that's why we're here to celebrate with gratitude,” Burgum said.
When completed, the pipeline will include roughly 17 miles of 26-inch-diameter conduits buried 4 feet under the ocean floor near Staten Island and the Rockaways, with approximately 10 miles of additional pipes in New Jersey. It will carry enough natural gas extracted through fracking from Pennsylvania to serve more than 2 million New York City homes, according to Williams. The company expects it to be in service by late 2027.
Williams CEO Chad J. Zamarin framed the opening of the pipeline as something that can help address the affordability crisis and the need for additional capacity from the boom in data centers because of artificial intelligence.
“The solution to both challenges is only possible by unleashing domestic energy through infrastructure like our Northeast Supply enhancement project,” he said.
Critics said the project will not provide the power generation and transmission capacity that the grid needs to meet increased energy demands. The new infrastructure will cost National Grid customers in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island roughly $200 million annually for the next 15 years, for a total cost of more than $3 billion, according to U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler’s office.
Activists protest outside of the NESE groundbreaking ceremony.
Liam Quigley / Gothamist
“Fracked gas pipelines like NESE cost New Yorkers billions while threatening people and the environment,” said Laura Shindell, New York state director at Food & Water Watch. “To resist a dystopian future filled with more of Hochul and Trump's polluting pipelines harming New York’s lands, waters and communities, the state legislature must stand strong and reject Hochul’s attacks on our keystone climate law in budget negotiations.”
New York’s grid operators have warned that the state faces growing risk of blackouts as soon as this summer because energy demand is outpacing supply. In recent years the state has retired fossil-fuel powered plants without having a replacement energy source in place.
Environmental advocates and lawmakers said the new pipeline violates the state climate law, which mandates the state wean itself off fossil fuels completely by 2050.
“The decision-makers behind this pipeline at Williams and in the governor’s office know that it is toxic, harmful and regressive,” said Assemblymember Emily Gallagher. “We are currently in a once-in-a-generation energy crisis caused by yet another oil war. Only by investing in public renewables and moving away from fossil fuel energy can we protect future generations of New Yorkers.”
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Health and Science
Politics
environment
new york city
Rosemary Misdary
Rosemary is health & science reporter. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 646-544-9524.
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Liam Quigley
Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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