In 2016, after a long stretch with little work, the union tore down its weathered hall to cut costs. Then came Vineyard Wind, a 62-turbine offshore wind farm 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard. When a barge carrying turbine blades longer than a football field arrived, the longshoremen picketed outside the pier, forcing a weeklong work stoppage. The pressure worked: the union secured a contract that put about two dozen members to work tying up ships and moving turbine parts.

"We hadn't been working probably in three years before Vineyard Wind came," said Kevin Rose, the union's longtime president.

The next three years proved "life-changing," Rose said. The project paid $50 an hour — nearly double what members had earned part-time unloading occasional shipments of tangerines and juice concentrate. Ten longshoremen worked full-time, and some earned more than $85,000 a year, a significant sum in a city where the average annual income is just over $30,000, according to Census estimates.

Members began floating plans to rebuild the union hall. Another developer signed a lease at the pier, and dozens of proposed offshore wind farms were moving toward federal approval, promising years of work.

Then Donald Trump won re-election. On his first day back in office, the president issued a memorandum halting federal permitting for all future offshore wind development. His administration later ordered work stoppages on five offshore wind farms already under construction, including Vineyard Wind. Developers suffered costly delays until a court overturned the order and construction resumed.

But the damage to the pipeline has been severe. Companies have canceled plans for new factories, redirected development to other countries, and even sold back leases of federal waters. States that invested heavily in offshore wind are falling behind on climate goals, and purpose-built piers could sit empty for years.

"Most of us have to get other jobs for now or collect unemployment," Rose said.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of the Interior defended the administration's stance, saying the Biden administration "lured companies into these projects with the promise of millions of taxpayer dollars in subsidies to make these offshore wind projects viable."

Massachusetts invested $140 million to build the New Bedford pier, where Vineyard Wind completed its project this March. Now seagulls and Canada geese wander the vacant site. SouthCoast Wind, the developer expected to follow Vineyard Wind, has delayed its project with no start date in sight. An executive from its parent company said on an earnings call last year that offshore wind in the U.S. is "pretty much in hibernation mode."

Onix Vazquez, a 34-year-old longshoreman who grew up a few blocks from the pier, worked full-time on Vineyard Wind for three years, earning enough for a down payment on a house. He now works a lower-paying seasonal job in the cranberry industry.

"If I wasn't a longshoreman, I'd probably be dealing drugs somewhere in the city," Vazquez said. "They don't see that it affects us, the ones that work the projects."

Plans to rebuild the union hall have been shelved again. The site is now a cracked concrete foundation sprouting weeds next to an old Cape Verdean social club. Blocks away, officials are seeking to lease the dock space to an old wooden schooner that once carried Cape Verdean families to America in search of jobs — a symbol, perhaps, of the work that has come and gone.