Data centers emerge as one key issue in NY-17 congressional race

The debate over data centers has become one of the major issues in the race for New York's 17th Congressional District. It sure has. Diane Caruso has the story from Rockland County. With the JPMorgan Chase data center behind him, Republican Congressman Mike Lawler said he had no involvement in approving these facilities in Orangetown. My view hasn't changed. The people who live next to these things should decide. Current town supervisor Teresa Kenney explained how they're approved. But the reality is the only entity with jurisdiction over local zoning is the town of Orangetown. Responses to this claim by Democrat candidate Kate Conley during a News 12 debate last month. On Mike Lawler's watch, there have been five data centers built in Rockland County. On Wednesday, Lawler showed two were approved before he was a deputy town supervisor in 2018 to 2020. And he was not on the town board that would approve these projects. The Conley campaign doubled down Wednesday, saying, quote, Michael Lawler himself bragged about his role overseeing these data centers during his time as deputy supervisor and making Rockland County the destination for data centers. Data centers have become a hot button issue in the battleground race for New York's 17th congressional district. Every campaign year we have the topic of the year. Right. And this year it has been data centers. They've developed into the boogeyman. Former state senator David Carlucci shares why the issue is resonating with voters who want answers. I think voters want to know and understand what can be done to make sure that their quality of life is not denigrated while we continue to build the data centers. In Orangeburg, Rockland County, Diane Caruso, News 12.