Amazon's HQ2 moving to Northern VA and NYC; 2/14: Amazon pulls out of NYC after public backlash!
I hope she can survive this. She is getting killed in the media, and on Twitter. The funny thing is that she really has nothing to do with the situation, since the HQ wasn’t going to be in her district.
I really wish a real conversation about the pros and cons to this would be discussed. It is not a open and shut case.
I really wish a real conversation about the pros and cons to this would be discussed. It is not a open and shut case.
Secure Da Bag
Veteran
All of this. fukk Amazon.
Those cornballs wanted billions of dollars in tax breaks and weren’t even trying to negotiate for something that was fair, as if NYC of all cities needed them.
The tax breaks were contingent on meeting job hiring numbers. The reason they got a better deal was because they were building outside of Manhattan. And this was 3 billion in breaks over 10 years, and the numbers would have seen the state add 27billion in revenue. Now theres nothing.
Perfectson
Banned
Big corps get tax breaks all the time B....its not real money until they actually pay it. They will pay more money in taxes and employ more people then that 3b easily. Lastly she has suggested a green new deal that actually spends money we don't have with no way to fund it , it's ironic now she cares about government spending
It's hard to argue with people who are financially and economically illiterate. . . The issue is AOC is one of those people but can discuss things in such layman terms that less sophisticated people understands even if it's totally wrong
Exactly, there are legitimate gripes about this deal, and they were never addressed. The pros of this deal were never really sold to us by the city, state, and Amazon. Im finding more out about the deal in it falling apart then I did when it was still on.
AnonymityX1000
Veteran
Big corps. getting tax breaks is the problem. People don't like it, especially when they don't get them themselves. And I thought you were about closing tax loopholes? Please stay consistent. lol
Json
Superstar
I just find it funny own so many decry when someone proposes socialist ideas like AOC as economical illiterate but don’t see the fact they are creating these ideals with policies like “ corporations will pay people who will pay taxes so they don’t need to.”
After being told we don’t have enough money for decent public housing or pre-k programs. But we must lower the tax burden on corporations to draw them back so you workers can pay taxes.
But corporations are people? Just not the kind that pays taxes when they get big enough.
After being told we don’t have enough money for decent public housing or pre-k programs. But we must lower the tax burden on corporations to draw them back so you workers can pay taxes.
But corporations are people? Just not the kind that pays taxes when they get big enough.
Dude is probably on their payroll
Big businesses don’t hold public sweepstakes like it’s the Hunger Games to pit cities against each other and squeeze the most tax breaks possible. That’s not normal. General Electric moved from Connecticut to Boston and that was it. Boston had favorable terms and they moved. Google moved a HQ to New York. No pomp and circumstance. They just came. They didn’t put out a country wide press release and tell everyone to come with their best offer or else
And is is my problem with the media. They pick a side without giving the full details. I’m not sure if this is a good deal or not. I don’t have a problem with a $3 billion tax break if they will be being in $27 billion in revenue. However, how would it affect rent? Rent is already outrageous in most parts of NYC. How many people in that neighborhood would get displaced? I have people that live in Brooklyn, and because of gentrification they are getting close to being priced out of their appointments. Those people get overlooked too often when it comes to deals like this. The media don’t give a fukk about the displaced people. So instead of everyone picking a side, it would be nice if every aspect of the deal was broke down.
Unemployed GM
All Star
I know a lot of people that work the blue collar jobs at amazon they pay awful and the benifits suck. I’m not sure how about the white collar workers are paid, but I don’t this move would be a plus for NYC. Let them go to Tennessee.
Michael Gianaris probably deserves majority of the credit 
But of course couple of trolls and a mentally deranged poster are trying to make this all about AOC.
Still have to give props to AOC and other local politicians for standing by their principles and doing what's right even though polls show majority of people supporting the deal and of course corporate media dikkriding Amazon regardless.
But of course couple of trolls and a mentally deranged poster are trying to make this all about AOC.Still have to give props to AOC and other local politicians for standing by their principles and doing what's right even though polls show majority of people supporting the deal and of course corporate media dikkriding Amazon regardless.
'Amazon isn't bigger than New York': meet the man who killed the deal'Amazon isn't bigger than New York': meet the man who killed the deal
Amazon
Michael Gianaris turned his outrage into leverage when he was appointed to an obscure state board – and soon after, the company called the project off
Erin Durkin in New York
Fri 15 Feb 2019 01.00 ESTLast modified on Fri 15 Feb 2019 19.15 EST
Amazon made plenty of enemies with its plans for a new headquarters in New York, but one of those foes played an outsized role in sending the tech giant packing.
The man who stared down Amazon is state senator Michael Gianaris, a Democrat who represents Long Island City, the Queens neighborhood where the company set its sights.
Gianaris came out in opposition to a deal that proposed $3bn in subsidies and tax breaks for the new campus, alongside a slew of other politicians. But his outrage turned into leverage when he was last week appointed to an obscure state board where he would be one of three people with veto power over the project. Days later, reports emerged that Amazon was rethinking its plans.
By Thursday, the company had called the project off.
“New York is in a unique position to stand up and draw a line, because Amazon is not bigger than New York,” Gianaris told the Guardian. “We have the ability to set the tone for the nation.”
If Amazon had had its way, its new campus would have risen on a waterfront parcel across the East River opposite Manhattan. It was to employ at least 25,000 people and, backers said, generate $27bn in tax money for the city and state over the next 25 years.
Grassroots groups organized quickly against the project, which they worried would drive up rents. Amazon executives further angered opponents when they vowed to oppose any effort by workers to unionize.
“A community that was facing its own demolition was salvaged. And New York took a stand against the type of corporate subsidies that are increasing the wealth concentration in this country,” Gianaris said.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo, the project’s chief proponent, has made clear who he will blame for the project’s collapse: his fellow Democrats in the state senate.
“The New York state senate has done tremendous damage,” he said on Thursday. “They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity.”
The state senate’s top Republican also took aim. “From the start, the senate Democrats have politicized and poisoned this process just so they could avoid the wrath of the extreme left wing of their party,” minority leader John Flanagan said after the deal’s collapse.
But Gianaris had no problem playing the chief naysayer. “I’m very comfortable being the person that says we should not be giving $3bn to Jeff Bezos when we can’t afford to fix our subways or have enough housing for people to live in,” he said.
The politician fought the project on multiple fronts, holding rallies, gathering petition signatures and introducing bills that would bar New York from participating in nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) like the one used to lure Amazon, and prohibit real estate sales based on inside information.
But his best chance to stop the project came through a little-known panel called the public authorities control board, which had to sign off on a development plan.
Gianaris, who became a deputy majority leader in the senate when Democrats claimed control of the body this year after years of Republican dominance, was chosen as the senate’s representative on the board, a post that comes with veto power. That was a hurdle for Amazon, which had counted on the state’s maneuver to avoid a city council vote.
Amazon picked New York and Arlington, Virginia, for new offices after staging a national competition between cities vying to host its secondary headquarters, after its base in Seattle.
News that the company was wavering on New York set off a new scramble among cities which had lost out but were quick to say they would still welcome the project.
Dallas was eager for another shot, with an editorial in the Dallas Morning News headlined: “Dear Amazon, New York Doesn’t Want You; Dallas Does.” Miami and Chicago renewed their interest, as did Newark, New Jersey, which had offered Amazon $7bn in incentives. Even a Staten Island city councilman made a pitch for the company to simply switch New York city boroughs and avoid the strife.
But Amazon disappointed the other contenders, saying it has no plans to reopen the HQ2 search.
It’s not unusual for big development projects to generate big opposition in New York. A few are killed, but more commonly local officials extract concessions from the developer.
For a company like Amazon, that may have meant giving up some of its subsidies or agreeing to remain neutral if employees attempted to unionize.
But Amazon, which dangled its headquarters as a prize for cities to covet, proved unwilling to deal.
“Rather than engage with the community that would be most affected by their project, they instead decide to pack up and leave like a petulant child,” Gianaris said. “There’s no indication they took seriously the community’s concerns regarding this project.”
Most New Yorkers sided with Amazon, according to opinion polls. A statewide poll by Siena College this week found that 56% of voters support the proposal, even when told it includes $3bn in incentives. Still, the company chose not to dig in for a long fight against its political opponents.
Gianaris, meanwhile, isn’t about to start shopping at Amazon again.
“I was lamenting during the holidays that it was really hard to shop without using Amazon. That’s how pervasive it’s become,” he said. “They’re into everything, and that’s part of the danger of who they are and the kind of power they have.”