Posted on 02/15/2019 1:46:56 PM PST by NoLibZone
The deal drew opposition even before it was officially announced.
The news that Amazon picked Queens as one of its coveted second headquarters in exchange for nearly $3 billion in tax subsidies broke the day before the 2018 midterm elections, and negative reactions from a newly energized left wing grew quickly in New York City.
The company, valued at $800 billion as of early February, hosted a beauty pageant of a search for what was believed to be a single headquarters, only to split its workforce and settle on two already-thriving East Coast cities. New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, out of favor with his party’s progressive wing, joked about changing his name to “Amazon,” a not-so-subtle wink and nod to selling out that sounded particularly tone-deaf to his Queens constituents. Most significantly, the deal was approved through a process that prevented city officials and residents from weighing in at all — let alone vetoing the plan.
The opposition to the project united an array of advocacy groups, elected officials and activists rallying over concerns about affordable housing, infrastructure, environmental causes and labor. Among the opponents were officials such as Ramos and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), part of a crop of liberal lawmakers who unseated centrist Democrats during the primaries last summer.
The opposition also included local chapters of the progressive groups that have grown since President Trump’s election, such as Indivisible, True Blue and the Democratic Socialists of America, the same organizers who propelled Ocasio-Cortez to a surprise victory in her race for Congress. The group held a town hall in Astoria about the deal; hundreds of people packed the venue.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I just love these sort of circular firing squads - the ultra liberal amazon founder making a deal with the also ultra-liberal mayor and ultra-liberal gov of new york, then getting smacked down by another set of ultra-liberal democrats - this stuff is really fun to watch....how can republicans not really enjoy this freak show?
I for one was really, really surprised they picked NYC in the first place - I had my money of virginia and texas, so I was at least 1/2 right.
Long Island City which is Queens.
Sorry! Glass is Half Full Gal!
Queens is the gateway to Long Island but it is not Long Island, it is Queens. Queens is a borough of NYC which Long Island is not.
Taxes in Seattle are lower than NY but maybe you’re right - maybe this had to do with the head tax that SEA wanted to impose on Amazon that would be used for the homeless. SEA backed off when Amazon put a halt to further construction until SEA dropped their demands. But maybe Amazon doesn’t want to be vulnerable to this anymore
However, I suspect it has a lot to do with getting local talent. I worked at Amazon and they had to import a lot of people - Florida, Texas, etc. I was one of the few fairly local people in my group and I was from Portland.
Still...I can’t imagine why they didn’t choose Texas or somewhere in the south. New York? Who wants to do business in that snake pit? This is one of the reasons I admire POTUS so much...he succeeded bigly there.
Arlington, Virginia is just as liberal in its voting; but it has a much better business climate, so not nearly as much was need to induce Amazon to locate there.
It's a lousy idea to put this headquarters in a congested urban area. That's why I mentioned something like Lordstown, OH. It's surrounded by large markets within a few hours, the highways are in place, thre's open space, and there are former manufacturing areas and even a nearby city, Youngstown, that are practically deserted.
Wrong.
The shortfall will occur now that Amazon won't be paying anything in taxes, because they aren't moving there.
The nitwit Bezos confronted the Frankenstein monster he created and lost. Boo-hoo.
Incidentally, always shop around before buying from Amazon because you are likely to find the item for less money on other websites. The cut Amazon demands on various products can add 35% or more onto your purchase price.
LIC is part of NYC. There are no other "towns" near there. It's roughly in the geographic center of NYC.
And where would the residents live?
As of Nov. 2018 15,400 apartments were under construction or in a planning phase.
Of course, Brooklyn is part of NYC as well (although, like Queens, "geographically" on Long Island).
And if Amazon had come in, they would not have served to provide housing in an area that has totally unaffordable housing for current residents.
Queens in ON Long Island,
.
And if Amazon had come in, they would not have served to provide housing in an area that has totally unaffordable housing for current residents.
15.4K new apartments isn't enough? About 30% of those new apartments are government mandated to be "affordable". And that's just in LIC alone.
And LIC is one subway stop from Grand Central which connects to all of NYC's northern suburbs. And LIC is served directly by the LIRR Hunters Point Station which connects all of Long Island. There are multiple subway lines that connect LIC to the rest of NYC. And LIC is right next to the Sunyside rail yards which at some point in the future will be platformed over, with thousands of apartments being built on top of that platform.
If all of that isn't enough, then you build more apartments in LIC.
It's a city for goodness sakes whose population and jobs have been growing. And you and AOC a couple of white politicians who don't want to be Crowley'ed want to stop that growth.
You attract jobs and then you build housing. How else do you think a city grows?
Queens is indeed on the island of Long Island. But most people in the City and on Long Island, when they refer to Long Island, are actually talking about Nassau and Suffolk Counties, both outside NYC.
Thus the confusion.
I understand-—very familiar with the area.
.
Where do you think the name "Long Island City" came from? :-)
Reap what you sow.
You know, repercussions and all that.
All actions meet with opposite reactions.
Businesses and socialism cannot coexist.
Trying to appease those who oppose you, comes back to bite hard.
Did you learn your lessons, Bezos? I doubt it. You are stupidly committed liberal.
“Kind of like Californians and Oregonians voting for more taxes and then leaving the state because of the high taxes.L
Except those idiots get to the new state and vote for all the feel good shit they miss.
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