The future of Empire Wind 1 is blowing in the wind once again after the Trump administration announced Dec. 22 that it would pause the leases for five wind farms under construction off the East Coast, including Empire Wind 1 — New York’s largest offshore wind project — effective immediately.
It’s the second time this year the Trump administration has pulled the plug on the $5 billion project, which is located 15 to 20 miles off the coast of Long Island and includes an operations and maintenance hub at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park.
In April, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to “immediately halt all construction activities” on the project, claiming the Biden administration rushed its approval without sufficient analysis. The ban was lifted in May after both Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams took credit for convincing the president to reverse course and allow the project — which was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026 — to resume.
This time, the Trump administration cited “national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports,” claiming that the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers creates radar interference, or “clutter,” making it difficult to identify security threats.
“Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers. The Trump administration will always prioritize the security of the American people,” Burgum said in a statement, noting that the order was intended to “protect the American people.”
Empire Wind 1, operated by Norwegian energy company Equinor, is more than 60% complete and would deliver energy to 500,000 New York City homes. The construction phase has put nearly 4,000 people to work, including union construction jobs and apprenticeships, both within the lease area and in the revitalization of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal.
In a press release, Empire Wind said it was complying with all relevant national security-related requirements identified during the regulatory process conducted over several years and planned to continue working with BOEM and other federal agencies to implement all necessary mitigation measures for the project.
Meanwhile, Hochul and the governors of the other three affected states — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee — vowed to fight the pause and get the projects back on track.
In a joint statement, the governors slammed Trump’s decision as his latest egregious attack on clean energy, landing like a “lump of dirty coal for the holiday season for American workers, consumers, and investors.”
“Atlantic states are working hard to build more energy to meet rising demand and lower costs. Already, these projects have created thousands of jobs and injected billions in economic activity in our communities,” the governors said. “Pausing active leases, especially for completed and nearly completed projects, defies logic, will hurt our bid for energy independence, will drive up costs for America ratepayers, and will make us lose thousands of good-paying jobs. It also threatens grid reliability that is needed to keep the lights on.”
Local lawmakers also weighed in, vowing to fight what they described as Trump’s latest attack on renewable energy and job creation.
“Donald Trump is trying again to kill thousands of good-paying union jobs and raise electricity bills. I have been fighting Trump’s war against offshore wind — a war that threatens American jobs and American energy. I will keep fighting to make sure these projects, the thousands of jobs they create, and the energy they provide can continue,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Brooklyn native.
State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, whose district includes Sunset Park, called the Trump administration’s decision to halt the project “ridiculous” and “nonsensical.”
“This is the second time in a year Trump has moved to block this crucial renewable energy project, and just like last time, there’s no coherent rationale,” Gounardes said. “This project has been thoroughly vetted and reviewed by multiple levels of government. To now claim a security threat, or whatever other excuse Trump is making up today, rings hollow. What this project does do is support thousands of good-paying jobs, ensure New Yorkers have reliable access to electricity, generate billions in investment in our neighborhoods, and strengthen our country’s energy independence.”
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who recently declared his candidacy for New York’s 7th Congressional District after U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez announced her retirement after three decades in office, questioned why the president — who touts himself as a job creator — would halt a job-generating project.
“Empire Wind is a $5 billion investment that has created 1,500 union jobs on Brooklyn’s working waterfront — with many more on the way — and is set to power 500,000 homes once completed,” Reynoso told Brooklyn Paper. “This is exactly the type of project you’d expect the so-called most ‘pro-worker’ President in American history to support. But the sorry truth is that ours is a president who governs out of pettiness and vindictiveness, not the best interests of the American people.”
City Council Member Alexa Avilés, who represents Sunset Park, said alternative energy sources are needed to ensure a “greener, more resilient future in Brooklyn.”
“Our president is targeting working-class communities through his destruction of the environment and green energy projects,” Avilés told Brooklyn Paper in a statement. “It is crucial that the Wind Turbine 1 project gets completed. If this wind turbine was a real national security risk, that would have been determined long before this construction phase. I urge the president to reconsider this action.”
Trump’s latest effort to obstruct renewable energy comes on the heels of a federal judge’s ruling that his January 2025 executive order freezing federal approval of pending offshore and onshore wind permits was “arbitrary and capricious.”
On Dec. 8, U.S. District Judge Patti Saris of Massachusetts vacated the order, declaring it unlawful after a coalition of attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, sued the government last May. The lawsuit argued Trump lacked the authority to halt project permitting and that doing so would jeopardize state economies, energy supplies, public health and climate goals.
