05/26/2026
Important clarification from Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico: there is currently NO pending application or zoning change before the Town Board for an AI data center.
A lot of misinformation has been spreading online — including AI-generated flyers and reports — causing unnecessary confusion and fear. According to the Town, any future proposal would face strict public review, environmental scrutiny, and community input before anything could move forward.
This is a good reminder to verify information before sharing it and to rely on official sources for facts about local development and land use issues.
Social Media Manipulation in the Era of AI
There is no change of zone pending for an AI data center on Thursday, May 28th. In fact, there is no pending application in all of the town as of the time of this post. The flyer, which has spread such misinformation, is unfortunate, somewhat ironic because it was created with AI, but not surprising in the time in which we live.
Furthermore, the AI-generated reports about Brookhaven National Lab (BNL) are also incorrect, but spread so much that BNL is working on a statement to give people the facts, which are the following. The Department of Energy (DOE) put out a call for a potential project over a year ago. BNL was one of the possible locations of among the 16 considered by the federal government. Four locations were chosen by the DOE which had nuclear power capabilities. BNL was obviously not chosen and has no pending plans for any data center.
Back to the flyer, the pending change of zone referenced, which I believe the people who made the flyer are referring to, is with regard to the Northpoint application. Adding more irony to the situation is that the Town of Brookhaven tried for years to have rail service to this location, which was blocked partially by the efforts of the very folks who put together this flyer. So now, regardless of whether the change of zone on the small portion of the property is granted or denied, this property will be serviced by trucks rather than rail, which is more economical, efficient and environmentally friendly for our region. Nevertheless, there is no data center proposed at this location referenced on the flyer.
It is true that an AI data center entity is working with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and the New York State Independent Operator (NYISO) on the power needs for a potential application for data center use on the north side of NYS 495 in the warehouses owned by Wildflower. However, nothing has been submitted to the Town of Brookhaven, and if and when a submission is made, it will be met with serious scrutiny, and an immediate positive declaration will be sought under New York State's SEQRA which would include robust public input. Such an application may even need a change of zone from the town board, which is a legislative act that the board can elect not to even consider. However, all of this is theoretical because nothing has been filed with the town as of the date of this post.
I encourage residents to contact their elected representatives for the facts about this and any land use application at all. Social media is unfortunately becoming extremely unreliable for truth on these matters and much more. I also welcome residents to come to town hall on Thursday or at any meeting to hear the truth on these issues. My personal view on the potential issues and dangers of such data centers was submitted to Newsday almost two weeks ago as a guest essay. I hope they will soon publish it and I will share it in a separate post if and when they do.
