Day says he won’t sign off on pipeline tax breaks unless businesses are compensated
Day said he is not signing off on millions of dollars in tax breaks the project has been expecting until contractors put millions into an emergency fund for businesses.
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Rockland County Executive Ed Day is threatening to disrupt an ongoing pipeline project in North Rockland if the pipeline's contractors do not put more money into an emergency fund to help suffering businesses.
It comes as project leaders reopened a key thoroughfare whose closure has been blamed for millions in losses among local businesses.
Work on a segment of the state-commissioned Champlain Hudson Power Express pipeline — which will deliver hydropower from Quebec to New York City beginning in 2026 — was held up on the James Farley Bridge for several months. Businesses were cut off from their customers. The bridge was fully reopened to traffic Monday afternoon.
David Cho said Monday that revenue at his bagel shop just south of the bridge is still down about 50% and he is behind on bills. He wants his customers back.
"People have to get used to the fact that the road's open, and they're safe to go travel across the bridge ," he said, "But let's see. Let's see how things turn."
Day said he is not signing off on millions of dollars in tax breaks the project has been expecting until contractors put millions into an emergency fund for businesses.
"We are not changing out position," Day said Monday. "We are not giving them a tax benefit unless and until they make right."
The North Rockland Chamber of Commerce has estimated $10 million in revenue losses among 100 local businesses. CHPE contractors have promised $150,000 in aid.
Day said the dispute could turn uglier if project leaders do not pledge more money to the fund.
"With all the political support this thing has from the state, I think the last thing the governor and others up there want is a protracted situation," Day said.
Though CHPE leaders have said tax relief discussions through the county's Industrial Development Agency have been ironed out and most municipal and school leaders have signed off on the tax relief, Day has not signed.
“CHPE has fully negotiated and completed PILOT discussions with all involved taxing jurisdictions in Rockland County, creating revenue certainty for years to come," a CHPE spokesperson wrote in an email. "Construction of the CHPE transmission line will wrap up in Rockland this fall, and the project will begin operation in spring of 2026."
The spokesperson did not say whether CHPE project leaders plan to increase their contribution to the emergency fund.
