Rockland County Business Owners Protest Pipeline Construction Impact

Business Impact of Pipeline Construction

• 📉 Business owners in Rockland County report a significant plummet in business, with some seeing a 40-60% decrease in the last several months due to a pipeline construction project.
• ⚠️ The ongoing construction of a multibillion dollar energy project for New York City has created an economic crisis for local businesses due to detours, road closures, and traffic backups.
• 🏗️ A key bridge that was supposed to reopen two months ago remains closed, exacerbating the disruption.

Safety Concerns and Traffic Issues

• 🚨 Business owners, like the owner of Stony Point Diner, express serious safety concerns, citing overnight changes to traffic patterns and the installation of one-way signs as a "safety disaster."
• 🚗 The detours and traffic backups along the normally busy 9W corridor are making it difficult for customers to access businesses and creating hazardous conditions.

Calls for Action and Financial Aid

• 📢 Business owners, town leaders, and Congressman Mike Lawler held a news conference calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to take responsibility for the project's impact.
• 💰 Congressman Lawler criticized the developer's negotiated $31 million community benefit plan, calling a portion of it a "joke" and demanding a robust emergency grant program for directly affected businesses.
• ✉️ Congressman Lawler has sent a letter to Governor Hochul urging her to reschedule construction and provide financial assistance to impacted small businesses.

Construction Nuisance

• 🔊 Residents in Stony Point complain about incessant construction noise, including pounding, jackhammering, and screeching vehicles, which occurs six days a week from morning into the night.