Posted on 12/14/2020 2:50:38 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
In Long Island City, it’s the scar that won’t heal.
Almost two years after Amazon pulled out from a proposal to build a massive headquarters along the Queens waterfront, the site is a vacant eyesore - and, to many locals, the squandered economic opportunity is even more painful amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The site just sits there empty. It’s terrible,” said Donna Drimer, owner of the Matted LIC art gallery and gift store. “We’re in the middle of a pandemic. People say, ‘If we only had Amazon.’ We got nothing.”
The world’s largest e-tailer abruptly canceled its projected 25,000 job-producing campus in February 2019 after being taken aback by ferocious opposition from the local pols - including democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and state Sen. Mike Gianaris.
Nearly two years later, the massive site remains a desolate reminder of wasted potential, while COVID-19 has ravaged the city’s economy, including the LIC-Western Queens area that would have benefitted from the influx of potential customers into the area.
Seething local merchants and residents grappling to survive during the pandemic told The Post the loss of Amazon haunts the community even more now.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
enjoy the suck NYC - you voted for it, you got it.
AOC got re-elected, right?
No sympathy here. A pox on my fellow NYers who vote for dems.
This wasn’t about AOC.
Amazon found out that NYS couldn’t afford the multi billion dollar bribe it demanded.
Cuomo’s mouth was writing checks his butt couldn’t cash.
AOC had zero to do with it.
But she made a dandy scapegoat for a number of reasons.
“AOC got re-elected, right?”
I know!
That CNBC reporter (Caruso I think) tried to mount a challenge; even wanted a debate, but aoc avoided it.
Unfortunately, the stupid is pretty big over there in Astoria Queens.
And you can be damn sure that Occasional Cortex hasn’t lost a minute of sleep over this.
You're far too kind.Unfortunately,she ain't stupid.She'd be far less dangerous than she is if she was.The appropriate way to phrase it is "the face of Maoist depravity".
Exactly, cant feel too bad for them.
They put their heads in the lion’s mouth.
AOC is these peoples “better”.
They need to sit down, shut up and realize AOC is collecting her $175k salary while deciding what’s best for them.
It didn’t stop AOC’s re-election, though. I’m sure she got some votes simply to keep the comic relief.
And that’s a helluva quote about Gianaris from Ms. Carbone.
I wouldn't let her off the hook that easy. Yes, it was ultimately a NYS and a city matter but she led a vocal opposition to the project. These state and city officials might have been more willing to work something out with Amazon if she cared about her constituents and embraced the project. But since she was re-elected with 70+% of the vote, it's hard for me to feel sorry for the people in her district.
That vocal opposition was to cover the fact that Cuomo’s mouth was writing checks his butt couldn’t cash.
Well, you know who to thank for that.
My memory has AOC stopping a disgraceful government handout to a large corporation.
Some nice housing could be built on the site. NYC needs more nice housing.
We could use 25,000 good-paying jobs in my part of Florida.
They tried that but that wasn’t allowed either.
From the article:
An alternative project called “Your LIC” that included residential-commercial towers at the site was also recently shot down amid not-in-my-back-yard opposition and lack of support from City Hall. The plan claimed it would create 26,000 jobs, open space and cultural amenities.
The Your LIC consortium included manufacturer Plaxall, the major property owner on the waterfront site along with the City of New York.
It wasn’t to be.
“Their plans weren’t going to offer enough benefits to the community, and we’re not going to let private developers ignore their obligations to New Yorkers,” said Mitchell Schwartz, a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio.
There’s just no pleasing them.
BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHahahahahahahahahahaha.
That felt wonderful.
Occasional Kotex -—There I corrected it.
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