Empire Wind 1- A Fish Factory in the Making
Local boat-based fishermen from Northern New Jersey (Think Raritan Bay) and Western New York (Think Jamaica Bay) will soon have 54 new fishing hotspots to explore. Empire Wind 1 and Empire Wind 2 is a “pizza slice” shaped offshore wind lease area, located 13 miles south of Jones Beach, New York, and 19 miles east of Long Branch New Jersey. It is wedged between the shipping channels, with the tip near the infamous offshore hotspot known as the “Cholera Bank”. This project has been in the works for a while, since 2017, when the lease was awarded, and continues to move forward. Empire Wind 1 (EW1) was one of the first wind energy areas to enter the multi-year process in the Bight. It will be supported locally at the first New York-based “wind port” in South Brooklyn, transforming the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) into an offshore wind hub. The most recent news about Empire Wind 2 (EW2) is the cancellation of the Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate (OREC), which do