States and Cities across the country campaigned for the chance to host one of the two Amazon Headquarters that went to Queens NYC and a Virginia suburb of Washington D.C.
But the opposition to the Long Island City NYC site has been strong….
Amazon officials have been put under mounting pressure by local, state and Congressional officials from New York…
The company thought it had a deal in dealing with the Governor of the state Andrew Cuomo…
But Cuomo seems to alone in welcoming the company’s plan to employ tens of thousands….
Amazon has not actually signed any leases or broken ground making it easy for them to move to somewhere more welcoming …
Amazon.com is reconsidering its plan to bring 25,000 jobs to a new campus in New York City, according to two people familiar with the company’s thinking, following a wave of political and community opposition.
Hailed as an economic triumph when it was announced by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) and Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), the project now faces withering criticism from some elected officials and advocacy groups appalled at the prospect of giving giant subsidies to the world’s most valuable company, led by its richest man. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)
In the past two weeks, the state Senate nominated an outspoken Amazon critic to a state board where he could potentially veto the deal, and City Council members for the second time aggressively challenged company executives at a hearing where activists booed and unfurled anti-Amazon banners. K ey officials, including freshman U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), whose district borders the proposed Amazon site, have railed against the project.
No specific plans to abandon New York have been made. And it is possible that Amazon would try to use a threat to withdraw to put pressure on New York officials.
But company executives have had internal discussions recently to reassess the situation in New York and explore alternatives, said the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the company’s perspective. The company has not leased or purchased office space for the project in the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City, making it easy to abandon its commitment.
In New York, critics are hoping that Amazon will tire of devoting time and money to fighting a battle it didn’t expect.
“The way these fights work, you push on each and every little thing,” Van Bramer said.
That approach was sure to worry Amazon, whose vice president for policy, Brian Huseman, told the recent City Council hearing, “We want to invest in a community that wants us.”…