New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that he would change his name to Amazon Cuomo to get the corporate giant to place their new headquarters here. Judging by the details of the deal, he might need to rename Long Island City after Amazon as well.
Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that New York City will be home to one of Amazon’s headquarters (Northern Virginia also won the bidding sweepstakes). Specifically, Amazon will take up space in Long Island City with 500,000 square feet at One Court Square while working on the construction of 4 million square feet of commercial space on Long Island City’s waterfront over the next decade.
According to Cuomo and de Blasio, the construction of Amazon’s headquarters will create 1,300 direct construction jobs annually through 2033. As for the other jobs, the mayor and governor state that Amazon will fill at least 25,000 new jobs by 2029 and up to 40,000 jobs by 2034. The average salary for those gigs will be more than $150,000. The state will allegedly benefit from more than $14 billion in tax revenue while the city will be the beneficiary of $13.5 billion in tax revenue.
Amazon will also get $1.5 billion in tax breaks and grants from New York and will begin hiring in 2019.
The aftermath of the announcement saw a gap in difference of opinion between some politicians and everyday New Yorkers. While politicians praised the potential jobs and economic benefits for the city, others pushed back against potential rising rents, gentrification, Amazon’s business practices, its connection with President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration efforts and the circumventing of the New York City Council to get this deal approved.
The firm Amazon used to lobby Albany is Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP. If that name sounds familiar to some it’s because it’s the same firm at the center of corruption scandals involving the governor. The firm employed Todd R. Howe who was the “bagman” for payments to Cuomo aide Joe Percoco. In September, Percoco was sentenced to six years in prison for accepting more than $300,000 in bribes.
Part of the deal between Amazon and New York also includes a signed nondisclosure agreement, something that doesn’t sit right with New York State Assembly Member Michael Blake.
“New Yorkers want, need and deserve good paying, quality jobs that help us meet the high costs of living in New York City with dignity,” said Blake. “The deal announced between Amazon, the city and the state is very troubling. The nondisclosure agreement that was signed between our government and Amazon was intended to keep us—both elected officials and community—in the dark, and, we are only now learning that New York City has agreed to abandon the receipt of property taxes and there will be a billion dollar’s worth of tax giveaways on top of that as well.”
According to Amazon, its contribution to the community includes a Payment in Lieu of Tax program based on Amazon’s property taxes on part of the waterfront development site. Amazon officials said the money paid via PILOT will fund infrastructure improvements developed through input from residents.
During Tuesday’s news conference, Cuomo confirmed that the project will be approved through Empire State Development, removing the need for the City Council’s input.
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union President Stuart Appelbaum said the city and the state deserved a better deal.
“It’s hard to believe that we are giving as much as $3 billion to one of the wealthiest and largest companies in history. This was an opportunity to create good jobs in a way that benefits the city and workers,” stated Appelbaum. “We should be demanding that Amazon respects its workforce by allowing them to exercise their right to freely associate. We should be demanding that they give back to the community and not drain public resources. Instead we got played. Amazon can afford to come here without handouts. It’s embarrassing to think that such a great city would need to beg them to come.”
A few blocks north of the waterfront development lies Queensbridge Houses, the biggest public housing development in the country. Sixty percent of its residents rely on food stamps. Many are unemployed. Amazon, the city and the state are initially investing $15 million in workforce development. The company will receive $1.7 billion in public subsidies and $500 million in capital grants from the city and the state.
Amazon’s agreement with the New York State Urban Development Corporation, the New York City Economic Development Corporation and City Hall includes a promise of internship programs and a push to hire women, minority owned-businesses and local residents.
According to the reports by the Wall Street Journal, the announcement of Amazon coming to New York has sparked a real estate frenzy. With Long Island City already in the midst of nonstop construction and remaking of its skyline, brokers told the publication that they’ve been selling condo units in the area via text message (sight unseen) since the announcement. The boom in real estate worries certain organizational leaders who fear that Amazon in New York could lead to even faster rising rents, higher cost of living and the pushing out of working class residents similar to what happened in Seattle, the home of Amazon’s first headquarters.
Monique “Mo” George, executive director of Picture the Homeless, said that if de Blasio and Cuomo have money to hand over to the corporate giant, they should have money to help the average New Yorker.
“As Amazon prepares to come to communities already struggling with gentrification and homelessness, they need to grapple with the consequences of their presence. If Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo are giving a billion-dollar subsidy, they better also be investing into large-scale low-income housing. And Amazon needs to ensure that the jobs they create are living-wage, union jobs, and that a significant number of those positions are allotted to homeless people.”
Amazon’s new home also happens to be a borough many immigrants from Central American countries call home. Knowing this, officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement have made it a point to do random checkups in Queens and look for undocumented immigrants to detain. In September, The Washington Post reported that Amazon officials pitched their facial-recognition system to ICE officials suggesting that the agency could use it to target and identify immigrants. Despite the negatives, some elected officials were happy to have Amazon make New York their home.
“My office led the effort to bring Amazon to the Bronx. While Amazon will not make our borough their home, we are encouraged that they will come to New York City nonetheless and congratulate our neighbors in Queens,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. in a statement. “Given the level of subsidies the company is receiving, Amazon must do more as part of this agreement to define benefits for its future employees and the community-at-large. As I have always said, companies that receive heavy taxpayer subsidies must do better by their workforce.”
“New York’s emerging tech hub is ‘primed’ for Amazon,” added Queens Borough President Melinda Katz in a statement. “Amazon is a timely fit for the borough, given the Tech Plan we commissioned years ago funded by Governor Cuomo to create the city’s leading tech ecosystem, coupled with Mayor de Blasio’s $180 million in new investments for infrastructure improvements unveiled several weeks ago for schools, transportation and open space.”
Katz continued, “With its organic growth, wealth of local talent and inherent global assets to foster innovation, Queens offers a dynamic mixed-use community where workers can live, ideas can synergize and businesses can flourish.”
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg also weighed in, stating that Amazon’s announcement is the culmination of a vision he had when he ran City Hall.
“Following the Great Recession, we set out to make New York City the technology capital of the world,” stated Bloomberg. “Today’s decision by Amazon to bring thousands of new jobs to Queens is the latest big step toward that goal. We always believed that the Applied Sciences competition would help catalyze the city’s tech industry, and that the birth of Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island would help make Long Island City a magnet for startups and big companies alike.”
The day after the announcement, New York City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, New York State Senator Michael Gianaris and members of Make the Road New York, New York Communities for Change and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union gathered on the corner of 44th Drive and Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City to voice their displeasure at Amazon, de Blasio and Cuomo.
“It may be cold outside, but I’m steaming mad,” said Van Bramer to reporters. “That the governor and the mayor have decided to throw Jeff Bezos almost $3 billion in subsidies and tax breaks and throw in a helipad so he doesn’t have to take the 7 train when we are several blocks from the Queensbridge Houses. We have a public housing crisis. Just this morning, several residents contacted us to say there’s no heat in Queensbridge. But somehow folks who consider themselves progressive Democrats have seen fit to throw $3 billion at the richest man in the world.”
In October 2017, Van Bramer, Gianaris, Katz and other elected officials signed a letter imploring Amazon to come to Long Island City.