Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has since been succeeded by the infinitely more popular Zohran Mamdani, was met with strong opposition from Wisconsin Rapids when he pitched plans for an AI data center in the area.
In an appearance at the Wisconsin Rapids municipal library, as seen in a video first shared on the Wisconsin sub-Reddit, Adams introduced himself at the meeting to boos. “You belong in prison!” one of the hecklers said, to which another yelled, “You’re here to steal our water!” Adams, who has a tendency to tell stories during his speeches, was there to pitch the data center on behalf of the PNK Group, a New York-based property developer, and proceeded to claim a friend of his was able to get a breast cancer diagnosis thanks to AI technology.
The story was immediately met with dismissal from the residents, with one person yelling, “Is this story true?” Others also yelled, “What are you doing here?”
As reported by Hell Gate NYC, residents in Wisconsin Rapids have been fighting plans to build a data center near the city, which critics have argued could siphon water away from residents, farmers, and other businesses that need it more. The location proposed by PNK Group is near the Wisconsin River, where a former paper mill was located. Residents were particularly confused by the presence of Adams, who has launched multiple endeavours following his mayoral career, including a cryptocurrency.
“Our whole town does not want him here at all,” added South Wood County Neighbors for Responsible Development member Kaitlyn Federwitz. “We want our resources to be properly safeguarded, our farmers to be protected, our waterways protected. When the [paper] mill closed, we lost 900 jobs. We're aware we need jobs and industry in our city, but we're not willing to accept that a data center is the answer to that problem."
Adams was elected Mayor of New York City in 2021, officially taking office on January 1, 2022. Amid continued legal troubles and multiple lawsuits, Adams announced plans to run for reelection in 2025, but without the nomination of a major political party. He later withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Andrew Cuomo, who lost to Zohran Mamdani.
As for why Adams was actually there, Adams has reportedly been involved with the PNK Group’s plans for a data center in Wisconsin Rapids since at least May. The company claims that the data center will provide between 50 to 150 permanent jobs, a far cry from the 900 or so people that the paper mill that closed in 2020 previously employed.