Rockland County, NY, gave a $77 million data center tax break to JP Morgan Chase to create exactly one job. On a dollars-per-job basis it appears to be the costliest subsidy in U.S. history, possibly even a world record
nysfocus.com/2026/04/20/d...
America’s largest bank is expanding its data center in Orangeburg, NY, near the New Jersey border.
In exchange for $77 million in tax breaks from the state and county, the bank promises to create exactly one permanent job.
My story in @nysfocus.com: nysfocus.com/2026/04/20/d...
I asked the IDA head about this, and he said he wishes more people would show up.
“If the public came out in force and said they want to participate and they want more discussion about it, I’d be the first [to say], ‘Okay, what do we gotta do to accommodate that?’” he said.
Screenshot of livestreams from the Rockland County IDA Youtube page, 2024. Four out of eight meetings shown are public hearings with row after row of empty seats.
Screenshot of livestreams from the Rockland County IDA youtube page, 2024. Four out of eight meetings shown are public hearings with row after row of empty seats. One meeting appears to have one attendee.
One thing that stood out to me reporting this story: The agency that approves these projects follows the process for public comment etc, but in practice there hardly ever seems to be any public input on these deals. Just empty hearing after empty hearing. www.youtube.com/@rocklandida...
When they applied for the original tax breaks to build the data center they put construction costs at $187m out of $423.5m total rocklandida.com/wp-content/u...
The main current structure has been done since about 2020 I believe.
This is what the site looks like now, fyi. (Source: www.lohud.com/story/news/p...) It’s a 200k+ sq ft facility with a custom substation attached. And you can see the cranes where they’re expanding.
Any thoughts on what something like that might be worth, not counting the hardware inside?
Ok right that makes sense. Yeah the project costs here include the computers etc
To be clear the project cost they listed for the expansion is exactly $1 billion.
Yeah. The project cost for the first leg of the project was over $400 million. So once this is done they should have spent close to $1.5 billion
![[Screenshot of parcel info from regrid.com]
65 3rd Ave
Property sales & value
Last Sale Date
2017-10-23
Last Ownership Transfer Date
2017-10-23
County Provided Values
Parcel Value Type
ASSESSED
Total Parcel Value
$7,674,500.00
Improvement Value
$6,324,500.00
Land Value
$1,350,000.00
Tax Information
Tax Year
2024](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:64drjustsrvsrcl2a2n2jnyf/bafkreic5xnv7td4rlxn2mzruexdedcqy7a56je4uqhdw7p4vkp3qtbwmb4)
[Screenshot of parcel info from regrid.com] 65 3rd Ave Property sales & value Last Sale Date 2017-10-23 Last Ownership Transfer Date 2017-10-23 County Provided Values Parcel Value Type ASSESSED Total Parcel Value $7,674,500.00 Improvement Value $6,324,500.00 Land Value $1,350,000.00 Tax Information Tax Year 2024
I didn’t do much research on the property aspect of this, but from a quick search it looks like it’s currently assessed at $7.7 million w/ the data center on it. Not sure if the $1.35m listed there is the amount they actually paid for the land or just an assessment...?
NEW: In return for nearly $77 million in tax breaks, the expansion of a JPMorganChase data center in Orangeburg, NY promises to create exactly one permanent job.
The subsidy is the largest of its kind, per job, in the country.
Rockland County IDA approved $77M in tax subsidies for a JP Morgan data center expansion in Orangetown that creates 1 full-time job — by far the largest subsidy for a single job in history. See our in-depth analysis, as covered in @nysfocus.com today: buff.ly/qkVOhCj
"JPMorganChase applied to the IDA ... in January 2024, providing only vague justification of why the nation’s largest bank needed subsidies to expand on its existing site, 25 miles from its brand-new global headquarters in Midtown Manhattan ... it got the exact tax break it requested."
this is more than Tesla got for its car factory in Austin which employs 16,000+ people
Looks like they’re currently paying ~$500k/year in PILOTs on the site, rather than $800k or so that they would be paying in regular property taxes. So a slight abatement there as well. I was told they’re probably going to seek a new PILOT deal once the expansion is closer to done
OK — for what it’s worth, the $77 million here are sales tax breaks so I think more straightforward than a property tax arrangement? It’s a 20-year agreement but based on precedent, seems there’s a good chance most of the spending will happen in the next few years as they build the facility.
I cover downstate tax breaks a lot at Newsday. A data center getting a $77 million subsidy in exchange for just one permanent job? Unheard of.
Worth a read!!
America’s largest bank is expanding its data center in Orangeburg, NY, near the New Jersey border.
In exchange for $77 million in tax breaks from the state and county, the bank promises to create exactly one permanent job.
My story in @nysfocus.com: nysfocus.com/2026/04/20/d...
“We are facing war against clean energy from Washington Republicans,” Hochul said when the DEC permitted the pipeline after 3 previous rejections.
Some of those Washington Republicans celebrated on her turf today.
www.thecity.nyc/2026/04/14/t...
One other piece of context worth keeping in mind here: Hochul’s admin is currently fighting Williams at FERC over its attempt to bypass state permitting for the Constitution pipeline, after the state DEC found the project application lacking last year
![[Screenshot]
Bernadette Hogan
@bern_hogan [on X]
.@GovKathyHochul
spox says this is why she didn’t attend the NESE pipeline groundbreaking earlier in Brooklyn.
Had she gone, she would’ve been in the mix with top Trump energy officials including her 2022 Gov opponent @LeeMZeldin
as well as current challenger @NassauExec
Quote
Nick Reisman
@NickReisman
·
1h
In a last-minute schedule add, Gov. Hochul will attend former President Biden's portrait unveiling at Syracuse University this afternoon
2:20 PM · Apr 14, 2026
·
2,828
Views](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:64drjustsrvsrcl2a2n2jnyf/bafkreia4rv5yysorxhz4mauukx2yketzi7adbktpyzkmae7jj7lurltppy)
[Screenshot] Bernadette Hogan @bern_hogan [on X] .@GovKathyHochul spox says this is why she didn’t attend the NESE pipeline groundbreaking earlier in Brooklyn. Had she gone, she would’ve been in the mix with top Trump energy officials including her 2022 Gov opponent @LeeMZeldin as well as current challenger @NassauExec Quote Nick Reisman @NickReisman · 1h In a last-minute schedule add, Gov. Hochul will attend former President Biden's portrait unveiling at Syracuse University this afternoon 2:20 PM · Apr 14, 2026 · 2,828 Views
Update: Apparently Hochul’s explanation for not being at the pipeline groundbreaking is that she had to be at a Biden portrait unveiling (which was added to her public schedule only around 1pm today, after the Williams event).
From NY1’s Bernadette Hogan on the other site:
About 15 activists led by Sane Energy Project were there in opposition: www.instagram.com/reel/DXHcHvv...
Wow, Zeldin, Burgum, *and* Wright all came to NYC today to break ground on the NESE pipeline, the first major pipeline project in NY in over a decade.
I’m told Nassau County exec & GOP gov candidate Bruce Blakeman was there as well. Hochul by all indications was not and has not made any statement
www.politico.com/news/2026/04... "Yet another [email] suggests residents would forget about the data center controversy as soon as they find out the city is getting a new Olive Garden restaurant."
OPEC+ "Great 8" production just ever so slightly off plan for the month.
After being shut out for years, are new gas plants poised for a comeback in New York?
That depends in no small part on what happens with the state’s climate law in the next few weeks, and gas interests are throwing their weight into the fight. nysfocus.com/2026/04/10/c...
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Goldman Sachs: oil crisis creates "bullish case for solar" and will lead to "structural solar surge"
you know what, sure
