Photo Courtesy of Councilman Van Bramer’s Office
“We have to not participate in this race to the bottom where corporations and billionaires dictate the values and the process by which we do economic development,” Councilman Van Bramer said.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Shortly after learning of Amazon’s decision to pull out of the deal to bring its HQ2 to LIC, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday released a stinging statement in which he blasted “a small group of politicians” for pushing the e-commerce behemoth away from NY, and specifically shellacked the State Senate for what he characterized as its leading role in the three-month saga.
“The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage,” Cuomo said. “They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity.”
Amazon on Thursday announced that, “after much thought and deliberation, we’ve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens. For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term. While polls show that 70 percent of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.”
Following a comprehensive, year-long selection process, Amazon in November revealed plans to establish a new corporate headquarters in Long Island City. According to the City Economic Development Corporation, in 2019, Amazon would occupy up to 500,000 square-feet at 1 Court Square while working to construct four million square-feet of commercial space on Long Island City’s waterfront over the next 10 years, with expansion opportunities for up to 8 million square-feet over the next 15 years. Through a $3.6 billion total investment, Amazon would have drawn from the workforce in New York to fill at least 25,000 new jobs by 2029 and up to 40,000 jobs by 2034 with an average annual salary of $150,000. Construction was expected to create an average of 1,300 direct construction jobs annually through 2033. Overall, the project was estimated to create more than 107,000 total direct and indirect jobs and more than $14 billion in new tax revenue for the State and a net of $13.5 billion in City tax revenue. The project would have provided a 9:1 return on investment.
To bring the enterprise to New York, the State offered Amazon a package of incentives and tax credits totaling several billion dollars.
However, the mammoth deal garnered just as many skeptics and outright opponents as supporters.
“We need jobs, we need tax revenue but we have to not participate in this race to the bottom where corporations and billionaires dictate the values and the process by which we do economic development,” City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) said on Friday’s “Brian Lehrer Show” on WNYC.
Van Bramer and State Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) led the charge against the Amazon deal from the day it was announced back in November.
“Offering massive corporate welfare from scarce public resources to one of the wealthiest corporations in the world at a time of great need in our state is just wrong,” the borough pols wrote in a joint statement.
