... can they bring the Clay fab up first? Or will Upstate NY just become a(nother) bad joke (again)?
As someone who lives local to the Clay construction site - I'm not sure how they could be bringing it up any faster. The site is working pretty much 24/7 and progress is very visible week over week.
The Clay fab is moving along, lots of trucks going through there. So I think it will be built, assuming the local NIMBY and Progressive contingent don't have their way and block it somehow (God knows they put up enough arbitrary hurdles in their way).