‘Hochul, Whose Side Are You On?’: NY Governor Under Pressure From Climate Activists Over Revival of Fracked Gas Pipeline
Hundreds gathered in New York City on Saturday to call on Gov. Hochul to reject the Northeast Supply Enhancement Pipeline.
By Béatrice Vallières
Just over a year ago, environmental activists in New York City celebrated what they believed was the final nail in the coffin of a controversial underwater natural gas pipeline slated to end in the Rockaways in Queens.
But a year later, the project is alive and well. After a years-long battle with the state and three failed attempts to secure water quality certificates, energy giant Williams is reviving its Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project—despite extensive opposition from environmental groups.
“When we learned that the Williams NESE pipeline was coming back from the dead, despite years of massive opposition and substantive evidence showing how dangerous and harmful it is, it was devastating,” said Laura Shindell, New York State director of Food and Water Watch, which has been advocating against the pipeline since the project was first introduced. “We’re immensely disappointed that Governor Hochul would even entertain such a project.”
On Saturday, August 9, around 500 people marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to call on New York State Governor Kathy Hochul to reject the proposal.
Protestors gathered in City Hall Park in Manhattan before walking across the bridge all the way to Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn. Over 20 environmental organizations, including Food and Water Watch, New York Communities for Change, and Sane Energy Project, walked alongside families and local residents.
The governor is facing criticism from activists and lawmakers over allegations that she struck a deal with the Trump administration to approve new pipeline developments in exchange for federal cooperation for an offshore wind farm project, which she has denied. Critics say the unusually short public comment period for the pipeline proposal suggests the state may be fast-tracking the project.
“Governor Hochul has a choice here to either side with Trump and his fossil fuel cronies, or to side with us and the ratepayers who would be stuck footing the bill for a massive new pipeline that went through our waters,” said Santosh Nandabalan, senior climate campaigner at New York Communities for Change.
About 500 protestors crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday to protest the revival of Williams NESE pipeline.
The proposed NESE pipeline is an extension of the existing Transco Pipeline, which currently transports natural gas from south Texas to New York City. The new segment would go from Pennsylvania through New Jersey all the way to New York City, where 17.3 miles of 26-inch diameter pipeline would pass underwater from Raritan Bay to the Rockaways, according to Williams.
When it was first introduced in 2017, the project immediately drew opposition from environmental groups, who argued it would pose a threat to marine life, human health, and the climate, while increasing local residents’ energy bills. Williams, along with New York utility company National Grid, defended the project saying it would bring a needed energy supply to over 2 million homes in downstate New York.
Following a campaign from climate activists, in 2018, the New York State Department of Environmental Protection denied the company a water quality permit needed to build the pipeline, effectively halting its construction. The Department denied the permit again twice in 2019 and 2020.
Williams finally withdrew its application for the state permits in 2020, and in 2024, said it would let its existing federal permits expire. But in May 2025, the company resubmitted permit applications for the NESE pipeline with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the New York State Department of Environmental Protection.
In addition, the company has re-submitted applications for state permits for the Constitution pipeline, which would bring fracked gas from Pennsylvania towards Albany. Like the NESE pipeline, the Constitution pipeline was previously rejected by state regulators, and Trump has been pushing for its return.
Williams’ revival of the projects came shortly after the White House announced it would withdraw its opposition to Empire Wind, an offshore wind farm project south of Long Island. In a statement about the White House’s decision in May, Gov. Hochul said that New York would “work with the Administration and private entities on new energy projects that meet the legal requirements under New York law.”
Since then, the White House has told E&E News by Politico that Gov. Hochul “caved” and agreed to allow “two natural gas pipelines to advance” in New York.
Protestors called on New York State Governor Kathy Hochul to block the NESE and Constitution pipeline projects.
Equinor Chief Executive Officer Anders Opedal, whose company is developing the Empire Wind project, also told the Financial Times that discussions over a natural gas pipeline had been “very helpful” in lifting the White House’s opposition to the project.
Hochul has denied making an explicit deal with Trump to allow the pipelines to move forward in New York.
But protesters on Saturday expressed their discontent with what they see as Hochul’s capitulation to Trump and departure from the state’s climate goals.
Several people held signs calling on the governor to “stand up to Trump,” or accusing her of “failing on climate.”
“I think she's way too centrist and timid in the face of the all-out crisis that we're facing on every front right now,” said Mimi Bluestone, co-leader at 350 Brooklyn, interviewed during the protest.
Lieutenant-Governor Antonio Delgado, who has announced his intention to challenge Hochul in the 2026 gubernatorial race, also criticized Hochul in his speech to the crowd on Saturday.
“This negotiating between Hochul and Trump, this idea of a gas-wind deal? Does that even make sense? A gas-to-wind deal? On its face, it is foolish,” he said. “We're going to sell out New Yorkers in exchange for a morally bankrupt deal and do so for what purpose? To preserve political power,” he said.
“You can call that whatever you want to call it, but what it sounds to me like is acquiescence,” said Delgado in an interview with Grassroots Magazine. “It sounds like a willingness to let something happen, or at least to go all the way up to the line for whatever political purpose that might serve.”
Lieutenant-Governor Antonio Delgado, who has announced he would race against Hochul in the 2026 gubernatorial election, speaks to the crowd on Saturday.
In an emailed statement to Grassroots Magazine, Ken Lovett, spokesperson for Gov. Hochul’s Office, reaffirmed the governor’s commitment to clean and affordable energy. He added that the governor is “laser-focused” on an “all-of-the-above approach” that will “keep the lights on for New Yorkers” while “prioritizing affordability and strong economic development” in response to the federal administration’s rejection of new offshore wind permits and cuts to renewable energy subsidies.
A spokesperson for Williams said that the company “take[s] community questions seriously” and is “committed to transparent engagement with local communities.”
This new chapter in the NESE pipeline saga comes a few months after the state greenlit the Iroquois Pipeline’s Enhancement, marking the first big natural gas project to be approved since New York’s landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act passed in 2019, providing an ambitious road map for phasing out fossil fuels by 2050.
With two additional pipelines now on the table, activists worry the state might be moving away from its commitment to clean energy. “I don't have a lot of confidence that Governor Hochul is 100 percent on our side,” said Kim Fraczek, director of the Sane Energy Project.
More demonstrations are scheduled in New York City before the end of the public comment period on August 16, including a demonstration in front of Gov. Hochul’s New York City office on August 15. The Department of Environmental protection should give a decision on the new permits for the pipeline by November.
Activists say they’ll keep protesting and organizing for the state to reject the proposal.
“If Governor Hopeful wants to tell New Yorkers she is not in the pocket of Trump and that she'll step up to him, this is the first of many things she has to do to make a case to us that she will deliver for New Yorkers, ” said Nandabalan.
Béatrice Vallières is a journalist based in New York City. You can find her work at beatricevallieres.com. For tips, you can reach her by email at beatricevallieres@proton.me or on Signal at bvall.71.