Dozens of children, parents, and grandparents took advantage of their day off this Tuesday to protest the decision by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to allow the construction of the Williams-NESE natural gas pipeline. The march from St. Catherine’s Park to Governor Kathy Hochul’s office on 3rd Avenue was as musical as it was multi-generational and was complete with drummers, singing, and a banjo. 

The DEC’s approval of the Trump-backed Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline last Friday represented a 180-degree turn in state energy policy; in fact, the department had denied the very same pipeline three times previously. The pipeline itself will be the state’s largest expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure in years, and its 2-billion-dollar price tag will add $7.50 a month to the average gas bill for National Grid consumers in New York City and Long island. 

The pipeline would add a 23-mile segment in New York Harbor to the Transco pipeline, which runs from Texas to New York City. It would pass just over a mile south of Staten Island, around six miles from Coney Island, and four miles from Rockaway Beach. Critics say that is close enough to the coast for toxins dug up during construction to wash ashore and endanger human and marine health.

“[The pipeline] is going to be impacting sea life, the water. It’s going to raise utility bills. It’s dangerous to our air, and it’s been stopped three times already by state agencies. So it’s very hard to understand why, in this moment, Governor Hochul is choosing to move forward and approve it,” Emily Skydel, an organizer at Food & Water Watch, said. 

Skydel was far from alone in her feelings of outrage at Governor Hochul, who has expressed support for the DEC’s decision. Signs hoisted above the heads of protesters carried messages like “Hochul Poison’s Kids,” “Gov Hochul, lower our bills!,” and “Sneaky, Snaky, Cowardly Kathy!” 

“I think she’s selling out New York. I think she made a deal with Trump” said Mark, who attended the protest with his son. “I think Governor Hochul is thinking about the election that’s coming up for her and not thinking about what’s best for her constituents.”

“This decision that [Hochul] has approved is going to destroy the magnificent marine life that has come back, because the country, at one point, decided that it was a good idea to take care of our environment with the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act,” said Joan Flynn, who lives on the Rockaway Peninsula. “Hochul was not elected to the office of Governor. She got in by accident. We have to make sure that she is never elected.”

The crowd was full of children and teenagers who joined in on the chants and songs that reverberated down 3rd Avenue. One speaker had her baby strapped to her chest as she addressed the mass of people gathered under Hochul’s office.

“It’s the next generation that has to inherit this water, this air, this planet, and this pipeline is going to hurt the future,” Skydel said on the importance of getting the next generation involved. 

Mark emphasized the importance of passing on the practice of civil disobedience and protest to the next generation.

“It’s important, because if [my son] doesn’t learn to do this, then we’re screwed. You gotta lead by example.”

Previous coverage of the Williams-NESE Pipeline

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