Rome, N.Y. — With nearly $4 billion in sales a year and demand for his Greek yogurt rising, Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya decided last year he needed to build another manufacturing plant.

But where?

He realized it had to be big so the plant could meet the company’s growing production needs. That meant he had to find a sizeable plot of land.

Next, he needed a place with many dairy farms because the plant was going to need a lot of milk — 12 million pounds a day.

And finally, he needed a place where he could find workers to fill the 1,000 jobs the plant would create.

Since he had yogurt plants in Twin Falls, Idaho, and South Edmeston in Upstate New York, he decided it would make sense to build his next one somewhere between the two states.

In the end, instead of looking in the middle of the country, he leaned hard into Rome, N.Y. The city of 32,000 is just 45 miles north of the former Kraft Foods dairy plant where Chobani got its start and grew into the most popular Greek yogurt in the U.S.

“Chobani is New York, and I am New York made,” he told about 200 people who gathered in Rome Tuesday for the announcement.

The site he picked for the 1.4-million-square-foot facility sits at the end of a runway, an area called the Triangle at Griffiss Business and Technology Park, a former U.S. Air Force Base.

Construction is expected to start later this year. Ulukaya said he hopes to have the plant up and running by 2027.

New York already is spending more than $23 million from the state’s FAST NY program to complete infrastructure and transportation improvements.

In addition, New York is pledging to provide up to $73 million in Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits to Chobani. Companies in the program earn tax credits over a period of up to 10 years if they meet and maintain job and investment thresholds.

Ulukaya said he is confident of finding the people to work at the plant, just as he has done in South Edmeston, where he employs about 1,100 people.

A native of Turkey, Ulukaya has long embraced and promoted hiring refugees and immigrants. Utica, just a 20-minute drive from Rome, has a decades-long tradition of accepting people from other countries. Some work now at Chobani’s South Edmeston plant.

Ulukaya said his commitment to continuing hiring immigrants remains, despite a campaign by President Donald Trump to expel many immigrants from the country. He said Chobani has always obeyed immigration laws in its hiring practices and will continue to do so.

“I’ve been around here 20 years, and policies change back and forth,” said Ulukaya, who came to the U.S. from Turkey at the age of 22. “This investment to me, I have no questions (about) the future of the country, the future of the state.”

Finding enough milk suppliers could be a challenge for his company, but Ulukaya said he is confident he will succeed on that front, too.

Once the new plant reaches full capacity, the company would buy an estimated 6 billion pounds of milk a year, creating more economic opportunity for the state’s dairy industry. This single factory could use about a third of New York’s current milk production.

Once built, the new plant is expected to help Chobani meet its production needs for years to come. But to hear Ulukaya tell it, his company won’t be done growing any time soon.

“What drives us, every single one of us, we come to work every day, try to make something really beautiful and give it to the world,” he said. “And we don’t accept the status quo. You want to stay entrepreneurial, spend a lot of time on food, a lot of time on people.”

The Rome plan will produce more than just Chobani’s Greek yogurt, the top-selling Greek yogurt brand in the nation. It will also make protein shakes, coffee creamers, coffee drinks and “some other innovations that I will keep as a surprise later on,” he said.

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente said the county recently acquired a nearby golf course in case Chobani needs room for another expansion some day.

“Chobani is a great family,” he said. “They’re part of our family in this county. You’re going to see something spectacular here in a short amount of time.”

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | X | Facebook | 315-470-3148

While the amount saved through federal lease cancellations by the Trump administration has decreased nationwide, New York's contribution has increased, even though the number of canceled leases is lower.

Twenty-two federal leases in New York, still up from the 19 reported in early March but down from the 23 reported in late March, have now been canceled by the Trump administration, according to a government data portal detailing the president's efforts to downsize the federal government.

Previously, the Trump administration reported the cancellation of Poughkeepsie's Social Security Administration lease, New York City's Department of Homeland Security U.S. Secret Service lease and New Windsor's Internal Revenue Service National Office lease as well, but the leases have since been removed from the list, along with several others nationwide.

As of April 22, Manlius' Indian Health Service lease and New York City's General Services Administration lease have been removed from the list, too.

Here's the latest.

Why the Trump administration is canceling leases

Named for an Internet joke, Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE,” effort has cancelled government contracts and laid off thousands of workers as part of a wider effort to overhaul the federal bureaucracy. The president and his allies have touted it as a long-overdue measure to cut down on inefficiencies and fraud in government.

How many leases has the Trump administration canceled nationwide?

Initially, the Trump administration said it had cancelled more than 700 leases nationwide, however, as of March 27, the government data portal listed 679 lease terminations and as of April 22, that number is even lower at 643 total lease terminations.

The savings amount has decreased again, too. In early March, the Trump administration said they had saved around $468 million through the cancellation of these leases, with over $7 million of that money coming from leases canceled in New York state. As of March 27, though, that overall number was lowered to around $400 million and as of April 22, the number is down to around $311 million.

However, the overall savings through canceled leases in New York ticked back up a bit as on March 27, the Trump administration said they had saved under $6.5 million but as of April 22, the number is back over $6.5 million.

Which leases have been canceled in New York?

Here is a revised list of all leases in New York that the Trump administration reports it has cancelled as of April 22, including the federal office affected, and the location, square footage, and annual cost of each lease:

Emily Barnes reports on consumer-related issues for the USA TODAY Network’s New York Connect Team, focusing on scam and recall-related topics. Follow her on X and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Get in touch at [email protected].

DC 37, New York City’s largest municipal union, is endorsing City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as its top pick for mayor, giving her a big boost as her campaign has struggled to gain momentum since she launched her run last month.

The powerful union, which represents about 150,000 active city workers and nearly 90,000 retirees, is also urging members to rank Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani No. 2 and Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie No. 3 on their Democratic mayoral primary ballots in June.

“We’re proud to endorse these pro-worker candidates in the June primary and look forward to getting out the vote in support of their campaigns,” DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido said in a statement late Tuesday. “At a time when workers’ rights are being ripped apart at the federal level, it’s more important than ever to elect local candidates who will fight for working families and the services we all rely on.”

The speaker’s campaign didn’t immediately return a request for comment. Garrido and other DC 37 leaders were expected to elaborate on the endorsements at a news conference Wednesday.

DC 37 is known to mount extensive get-out-the-vote efforts for its preferred candidates, and also boost them by spending money on ads, mailers and other political materials.

The endorsement couldn’t have come at a better time.

Though well-known in City Hall circles, Speaker Adams (D-Queens) has struggled to break through on the citywide level since she announced her campaign in early March.

Surveys of June’s mayoral primary have generally shown her hovering around the 5% support mark, trailing far behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has consistently polled as the favorite to win, and Mamdani, who is generally ranking as the runnerup.

The endorsement also sets DC 37 apart from other powerhouse unions in the city that have endorsed Cuomo for mayor in the June 24 Democratic primary.

That includes 32 BJ and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, both of which endorsed Cuomo as their sole pick for mayor this month.

Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid sexual misconduct accusations that he denies, had sought the DC 37 endorsement as well.

DC 37 officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Daily News late Tuesday that the union, in part, opted against ranking Cuomo due to how he as governor in the early 2010s pushed to raise the state’s retirement age and cut some benefits for public sector retirees. The endorsement could be a risky move for DC 37 leaders, who’d have to negotiate contracts for its members with Cuomo’s administration should he be elected mayor.

The endorsement rankings from DC 37 also dealt a blow to city Comptroller Brad Lander, who has polled as the No. 3 candidate in most recent surveys.

Mayor Adams had sought the DC 37 nod, too.

But he dropped out of the Democratic primary this month in favor of seeking reelection as an independent in November’s general election, a decision political observers say leaves him with an implausible path to victory. He made the decision to drop out after President Trump’s Justice Department secured a controversial dismissal of his corruption indictment that many say has left him beholden to Trump’s agenda.

The mayor, who denies a quid pro quo with Trump, relied heavily on endorsements from DC 37, 32 BJ and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council in his successful 2021 mayoral campaign.

In one of June’s high-stakes down-ballot races, DC 37 endorsed Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine for city comptroller over Brooklyn Councilman Justin Brannan. It’s also endorsing city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ bid for reelection over Queens Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar.

Originally Published: April 22, 2025 at 9:50 PM EDT

Why Is There Always a Line? And Why Is It at My Front Door?

One of New York City’s minor yet annoying inconveniences is a line that forms when a restaurant or another business becomes wildly popular.

Lines can pop up anywhere in New York City, but what happens when it’s at your front door?

Listen to this article · 7:26 min Learn more

By Matt Yan

Photographs by Hilary Swift

Matt Yan waited in line for over an hour on opening day at Radio Bakery in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, where he ordered a triple chocolate croissant, a scallion sesame twist, a chocolate chunk cookie and a brown butter corn cake.

New Yorkers are always waiting in line for something.

Want a table at Lucali, a pizza restaurant in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, frequented by celebrities? Clear your afternoon to line up early. Craving a pastry from Radio Bakery? Wake up at the crack of dawn because some pastries sell out quickly.

From the pharmacy to a stoop sale, lines in New York City can pop up everywhere, but what happens when it is at your front door?

Avoiding them is part of the routine for Max St. Pierre, a 34-year-old architectural designer, who moved in 2022 to Park Slope. Dripping in sweat, he hauled his stuff out of a U-Haul truck, carrying his bed frame while weaving through the horde of people. He quickly discovered that Miriam, an Israeli restaurant in the storefront of his building, was a major draw.

“It’s pretty much like I open the door and then there’s like bodies in front of me,” he said, adding later: “Even if the line is three people, it feels like it’s 100 people long because it’s in front of my door.”

Rafi Hasid, the owner of Miriam, has tried to lighten the inconvenience for residents like Mr. St. Pierre. After long lines starting popping up around 10 years ago, he decided to open the restaurant an hour earlier on the weekend. Switching to 9 a.m. from 10 has helped them move through tables more quickly. “We try to be very cautious of our neighbors,” he said, encouraging neighbors to alert the restaurant when the line is disruptive so it can “pay more attention.” Mr. St. Pierre noted that the crowds have “been fewer as of late.”

When Printemps, the French department store, opened its New York location in Manhattan’s Financial District, it went a step further to be good neighbor.

Residents who are in the same building at One Wall Street can skip the line — no small gesture since the store had lines down the block on opening weekend. Using an app, residents can either flash a QR code to Printemps’s security at the door or set up special services, like a private shopping appointment or an at-home fitting.

Residents “are now the friend that can get their friends in to skip the line like the hottest clubs,” said Anna Zarro, the president of sales at One Wall Street. “I think there’s a little bit of street cred now that comes with being the person with the app that’s probably fun.”

And yet, conflict ensues in every corner of New York. Stepping out of line. Crossing the line. Drawing the line. Even the slightest annoyance could lead to beef.

Last year, a landlord threatened to evict Apollo Bagels from its location in the West Village, arguing its long lines interfered with nearby businesses. In the East Village, a neighbor recently dumped some water down on to some people waiting in line at Mary O’s Irish Soda Bread Shop, where wait times are over an hour for a scone with jam.

People have been lining up for a taste of the city’s most viral foods for years. After the cronut’s debut in 2013, people lined up on Spring Street in SoHo in the early morning to try and snag one of Dominique Ansel’s hybrid treats.

But today’s crowds outside restaurants, bars and bakeries can often be attributed to social media. Newer platforms like TikTok are full of videos hyping up New York’s “hottest” restaurants. Even some of the less buzzy restaurants still attract lines.

One of those social media darlings is Radio Bakery, which was named one of the best bakeries in the country by The Times last year. Search the bakery on TikTok and Instagram, where you’ll see many influencers and pastry fans showing their hauls.

Radio Bakery opened in 2023 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Customers swarmed, as the smell of fresh pastries wafted down onto the nearby subway platform. The lines have not dissipated, sometimes snaking halfway down the block, which is just short of a quarter mile long. White signs hang on a tree guard and the gate of a home next door with the same message: “Please respect our neighbors, noise travels. Thanks, Radio Bakery.”

Will Fagan, 44, and his partner moved to the same block the same week that the bakery opened. “You live in New York, and you’re kind of open to, like, New York inconveniences, but it’s not an inconvenience to us,” said Mr. Fagan, who works in music marketing. At least, he’s nearby if he wants a pastry and can check if the line is long, but he tries not to go too often, only a few times a month. (His favorite is the cheesy pretzel bear claw.)

Proximity to pastries is not the only perk. An entrepreneurial teenager living near Radio Bakery started a stoop sale, selling clothes and toys to people in line.

When Radio Bakery opened a second location in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, the crowds followed. On opening day, the line bent the corner and snaked around 200 feet. Wait times were well over an hour that day, and staff were passing out hot chocolate to those queuing in the cold. At the new location, barriers were installed six feet from the entrance “to make sure that the line wouldn’t go directly in front of people’s apartments or businesses in the direction the line went,” said Ben Howell, a partner and the director of operations at Radio Bakery.

“It forces the line to be six feet away from the frontage of other buildings, so that there’s no situation where someone has someone right in front of them when they get out,” Mr. Howell said. He noted that they’ve been in touch with the businesses on the same block where the line extends.

As many New Yorkers can attest, a line can be bothersome for people who don’t necessarily live directly next to it.

Julia Feingold, 27, lives in an area of Greenpoint that she described as “pretty quiet” until last October, when Chrissy’s Pizza arrived with its much-anticipated brick-and-mortar shop, which is around a 3-minute walk from her apartment. The lines followed. In March, hordes of people lined up at Chrissy’s for a collaboration with Benny Blanco and Selena Gomez to promote their new album.

“On the first few days it was open, I was like, ‘Oh my God, there are 30 people waiting on this block that usually no one is at,’” said Ms. Feingold, a graphic designer.

The Citi Bike station in front of the pizza shop is now sometimes inaccessible, which makes grabbing or putting away a bike — her main way of getting around — a chore. People, she said, will either wait for their pizzas on the bikes or eat them there, and she’s had to shoo them away to grab a bike. Other times, she has an audience while putting on her helmet and gloves. “I just have 30 strangers staring at me, which is cool,” she said, laughing.

Chris Hansell, the owner of Chrissy’s Pizza, said the Citi Bike station is accessible from the street and noted that the line blocking its neighbors “has not been an issue.”

“I just haven’t seen an issue where anybody was blocked from accessing a Citi Bike,” he said, adding later, “We’re a tiny shop — only like five, six people can really sit in there at a time to order and then they just have no choice but to wait outside because we serve full pies at my spot, and they take 10, 15 minutes to cook.”

Although she’s eager to try it, Ms. Feingold still hasn’t been to Chrissy’s, mainly because of the line.

Mr. St. Pierre has been to Miriam and its takeout location next door a handful of times, but he’s not “a big brunch guy.” He has tolerated the lines for three years now because his rent is affordable and he likes the area. “I’ve had some hit apartments and some miss apartments, and I feel like it’s one of these things that it doesn’t bother me enough to make me move,” he said.

He compared it to another classic New York experience: When you find a mouse in your apartment, he said, you learn to live with it.

Of course, as New Yorkers know, there’s never just one.

Matt Yan is a real estate reporter for The Times and a member of the 2024-25 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.

The State of Real Estate

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The Jones Road wildfire rages on in Ocean County, New Jersey, and the smoke could impact our area for the next few days.

With about 50% of the fire contained as of Wednesday evening, smoke continues to billow into the air across South Jersey. The prevailing winds are currently out of the north, but as they shift, we could be exposed to fine particulate matter.

The Jones Road Wildfire is located in Ocean and Lacey townships in Ocean County. Take a look at these fire and smoke maps.

Here's a look at what we're expecting from the smoke, based on the prevailing winds.

So, what does that all mean? Well, two things come to mind: Reduced air quality and hazy skies.

Air Quality Health Advisory in effect for NYC today

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has issued an Air Quality Health Advisory for New York City on Thursday.

The agency says the city's Air Quality Index (AQI) is forecast to reach Level Orange (AQI between 101-150), which is considered unhealthy for people in sensitive groups, such as adults over 65, children younger than 14, pregnant women, outdoor workers and people with underlying conditions, like heart or lung disease, or asthma. They are encouraged to reduce strenuous outdoor activities Thursday.

New York City's Emergency Management Department says it is working with the National Weather Service to assess potential impacts.

The real question is, how well will the fire be contained in the coming days?

Given the warm, ample sunshine, low relative humidity and lack of rain in the forecast, the firefighting effort will remain challenging.

However, since the winds will be in check, there is only a low to medium risk for rapid wildfire spread through Thursday.

The other good news is we're expecting rain by the weekend, which would help with any ongoing firefighting effort.

Here's a closer look at the forecast

Thursday is shaping up to be another sunny, warm and breezy day, with the high around 73 degrees. It'll be much the same, if not slightly warmer, on Friday.

So what about that rain? We might see showers and isolated thunderstorms Saturday. There may even be incidents of localized flooding.

Stick with our First Alert Weather team for the latest forecast, live radar and weather alerts.