Former NYC Mayor Eric Adams traveled to Wisconsin Rapids on August 1 to pitch a data center proposal to residents at the municipal library.
Adams, who was recently succeeded by Zohran Mamdani as NYC mayor, has been working as a “business development consultant” for several “real estate-related technology companies,” and came to Wisconsin Rapids to convince residents they should allow real estate developer PNK Group to build a data center in the city.
Adams was almost immediately heckled by the crowd as he attempted to get through his introduction.
“One of my colleagues sent me a post that says, ‘A high profile person is coming to your town,’ and I said, ‘Who’s that?'” Adams begins. “Let me tell you something: My name is Eric Adams,” he continues, as the boos begin to rain down.
“I grew up in a small area in Queens, a young man, dyslexic. I’m not high-profile.” “You belong in prison!” one attendee shouts.
“You’re here to steal our water!” yells another.
Adams, alongside PNK Group’s chief development officer Anton Voronkin, was met with boos, heckling, and chants throughout the two-hour session as audience members challenged him for working with the developer and over past corruption and bribery allegations against him.
Voronkin attended alongside Adams, and the meeting originally scheduled for an 80-person room relocated to a 248-person venue that filled to standing-room-only capacity within 30 minutes.
Over 50 residents protested outside with signs reading “PNK GO AWAY,” citing concerns about water use, wildlife threats, and climate impact.
“I just want to share one story with you,” Adams says later, before launching into an anecdote about how artificial intelligence helped a friend identify her breast cancer diagnosis. A person in the crowd responds: “Is this story true?”
Adams defended his involvement by arguing that data centers are coming to the country regardless, and that he pushed PNK to design a facility addressing concerns he’d heard nationwide about water use, heat, and noise from similar projects elsewhere.
Residents pressed both men for two hours on concerns ranging from the facility’s water use and potential impact on the Wisconsin River and local wells, to increased electrical costs, noise from diesel generators, and discharge into the city’s sewer system.
Local residents told Hell Gate they were “mystified” by the presence of Adams in central Wisconsin, and Kaitlyn Federwitz of South Wood County Neighbors for Responsible Development said, “Our whole town does not want him here at all.”
“We want our resources to be properly safeguarded, our farmers to be protected, our waterways protected,” said Federwitz. “When the 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.”
In the viral moment captured on video, Adams attempted to introduce himself to a room filled with vocal skeptics and outright opponents of the PNK data center proposal. The meeting had been organized by the developer, not the city, and the crowd’s reception made immediately clear that Adams’ pitch faced a steep uphill battle from the opening remarks.
The proposed location of the data center is adjacent to the Wisconsin River, on 209 acres that used to house the city’s paper mill, a longtime driver of its local economy, which shut down in 2020.
Adams was indicted in 2024 on federal charges of bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations, before the Trump administration dropped the charges.
Adams told the crowd, “Like it or not folks, data centers are going to be here,” before the crowd reacted negatively, with one person shouting “Not in Rapids!”
Data centers have become a focal point of political discussions in Wisconsin; gubernatorial frontrunners Francesca Hong and Tom Tiffany each have spoken in opposition against data center development, while some communities have considered legislation aimed at slowing development or prohibiting the non-disclosure agreements that often keep details about projects hidden.
Local leaders in Wisconsin Rapids including Mayor Matt Zacher say no decisions will be made on the PNK proposal until there’s been more public discussion.