New York Gov. Kathy Hochul explains why she signed the first statewide moratorium on data centers

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she felt the need to sign the nation’s first statewide moratorium on data center development because tech giants “are flooding the zone” with construction efforts faster than states and localities can keep up.

In an interview with NBC News’ “Here’s the Scoop,” Hochul said she decided to pause state permitting for new large data centers and direct state regulators to author new standards for them after hearing from local governments in her state that were seeking help managing the boom.

Notably, New York does not have as many large data centers as some nearby states, but the Democratic governor said applications in small New York communities are quickly piling up.

“There are so many applications in primarily small communities across the state of New York,” Hochul said, adding localities “aren’t quite sure how to manage this.”

“They need our help,” she continued. “They’ve asked me for help, and at first I thought this is more of a local decision, but then I realized they don’t have the negotiating ability, the clout, the wherewithal to be able to negotiate the best benefits or to make sure that these companies, as I said in my State of the State, are either bringing their own power or paying a premium into the grid to cover the cost.”

Hochul’s move is a major salvo in the ongoing nationwide battle over the data center buildout. State lawmakers in both parties have sought to advance moratoriums on data center construction, while Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have advocated for one on the federal level.

Opposition to data centers has intensified over the last year, with a number of grassroots groups sprouting up to protest their development, pointing to environmental concerns and rising electricity bills, among other worries.

Data center advocates and boosters have argued the pushback is based on faulty data and assumptions, and they have pointed to the economic benefits their development has brought to states and localities.

Pressed on whether New York can be an active participant in the AI boom while shunning data center development for the next year, Hochul said the framing was essentially a false choice. She pointed to recent job growth on Wall Street that she said is primarily driven by AI, adding that companies “will come here because they’re looking for the talent, the innovation, the energy.”

“[W]e don’t have that many data centers yet, so … we don’t need the data centers to support that,” she said. “But to those who think that by rejecting data centers for the year while we’re doing this thoughtful process means we’re rejecting innovation, that’s just a false, false narrative.”

“You don’t have to have the data centers here to be successful, but that doesn’t mean we won’t welcome them at the right time and place under really different conditions than exist right now,” she continued. “So we’re just being thoughtful about this. And people are happy we’re doing this.”

Environmental advocates and progressive lawmakers at a May rally in Albany, N.Y., in support of legislation that would put a moratorium on new data centers in the state.Will Waldron / Albany Times Union via Getty Images

Hochul said it wasn’t her goal to be “first” but to “be the first to get it right.”

Her move was met with some pushback, including in the opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal, with the paper’s editorial board excoriating her move and Hochul responding in a letter of her own.

In her interview with “Here’s the Scoop,” Hochul said momentum to enact data center pauses locally is being driven by both Democrats and Republicans, citing a recent conversation with a local official from a Republican town on Long Island. She added that “anyone” who believes her move amounted to “political pandering … doesn’t know me.”

She separately said her administration had conversations with at least one leading AI company ahead of making the announcement, though she did not say which one.

“[T]here were conversations on the front end, so people knew what we were doing,” Hochul said, adding her team alerted one company of the upcoming development and told them “‘we’ll define the rules of the road, and we’ll want you to follow them.’”

Hochul also discussed her recently announced bid to bring the Olympics to New York in 2042, election security, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s first months in office.

Asked about Mamdani’s appointment of former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan to serve as chair of the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Board of Directors, Hochul said she’s not second-guessing any of his appointments. She did praise his pick of Tony Shorris, a former first deputy mayor under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, as CEO of the NYCEDC.

“I don’t have a relationship with the former head of the Federal Trade Commission,” Hochul said of Khan, who has become a star in the left’s antitrust sphere. “What I do have is a relationship with Tony Shorris, and I have confidence in his ability to work in a collaborative way with … all the perspectives that are expected in his new position here.”

Responding to Mamdani’s recent video explaining that he does not have the authority to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu when the Israeli prime minister visits New York City in September for the United Nations General Assembly, Hochul said Mamdani is correct in his assessment of his authority. Mamdani, who previously discussed a potential arrest of Netanyahu in New York City both on the campaign trail and in office, instead called on the federal government to make such an arrest.

“My position is that is the correct answer, that the city does not have the authority, and he chose to go through the questioning about this, and he came to that conclusion,” she said. “Listen, I understand this frustration with the leadership in Israel, not the people of Israel, not the place of Israel, but the leadership and what is being conducted.”

“I’m not stepping into international relations right now because I want to make sure that the Jewish community feels protected in this city, that I’ve done a lot to fight antisemitism because they’re under siege,” she continued. “We’ve had a huge spike in hate crimes, and my job is to make sure we have the resources to protect sensitive locations, the synagogues, yeshivas, mosques. … So I’m working on areas where I actually have some direct control, and I do not control the leadership of Israel.”