Author: Stephen Johnson / Source: Big Think
- Amazon had spent years on a controversial campaign to select cities where it plans to build giant corporate campuses.
- In November, the retail giant announced plans to build its so-called HQ2 in Virginia and New York.
- On Thursday, Amazon cancelled its plans to build in New York following backlash from local lawmakers, union leaders, and protestors.
Amazon has cancelled its plans to build a headquarters building in New York City after facing backlash from local lawmakers and others opposed in the community.
The deal had allocated some $3 billion in local and state tax incentives for Amazon, which in return promised to create some 25,000 jobs with average wages of about $150,000. It was these supposed benefits that caused hundreds of cities across the nation to spend millions to try, in vain, to woo the world’s largest online retailer to plant down roots.
But it came as little surprise, at least to some, when Amazon announced in November that the site of its so-called HQ2 would be New York City — a decision publicly celebrated by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
There was reason to celebrate. Sure, New York City would have to spend big on a record-setting $3 billion incentive package, but it would’ve surely gotten a much bigger return on that investment in the form job creation and tax revenue. But at what costs? Critics said the bulk of these supposed benefits would not go to locals, but rather to outside talent who’d move to the nearby neighborhoods and drive up rent prices — a familiar pattern in a city where rent prices are already forcing out long-time residents.
In fact, mere rumors of Amazon’s plans to build a corporate campus in Long Island City seemed to spark a condo frenzy, as The Wall Street Journal reported.One of the most instrumental opponents of the deal was Sen. Michael N. Gianaris (D-Queens), who serves as deputy majority leader of the New York State Senate and was recently appointed to the Public Authorities Control Board — a legislative body that had the power to effectively kill the project, as noted by The Washington Post.
“Amazon has extorted New York from the start, and this seems to be their next effort to do just that,” Gianaris said. “If their view is, ‘We won’t come unless we get $3 billion of your dollars,’ then they shouldn’t come.”
Cuomo said the senate’s…
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