Nauseated over Amazon bungle
Amazon’s decision to drop out of a billion-dollar deal to build a second headquarters in Queens was the “greatest tragedy” Gov. Cuomo has ever seen in politics.
The governor again slammed state Senate Democrats Friday over opposition to the project, casting blame on advocates and local pols who spoke out against tax abatements and incentives the state and city offered Amazon.
“What happened is the greatest tragedy that I have seen since I have been in government,” Cuomo said during an interview with WAMC’s Alan Chartock.
Amazon cited political backlash Feb. 14 when it scuttled plans to build a tech campus in Long Island City.
Cuomo said the loss of a potential 25,000 jobs made him a little queasy.
“I am beyond annoyance,” Cuomo said. “Losing Amazon was bad government. It made me sick to my stomach.”
The governor declined a chance to directly blame outspoken Amazon opponent Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx and Queens), saying “she had no governmental role in this.”
But he fired broadsides against advocates and politicians who balked at the $3 billion in incentives offered to one of the world’s most valuable companies and protested Amazon’s anti-union stance.
“‘We gave them $3 billion.’ How ignorant a statement,” Cuomo added, noting that the tax breaks would have been far outweighed by the gains.
Cuomo also took aim at his fellow Democrats in Albany — specifically state Senate Majority Leader Andrea StewartCousins (D-Yonkers). He said Senate Democrats could have saved face had they rescinded the appointment of Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) to an obscure state board that would have had veto power over the project.
“Primarily, the state Senate made the misguided decision, in my opinion, which is now clear to all, to treat Amazon as a local political issue and defer the decision making to the local political senator,” Cuomo said, without mentioning Gianaris by name.
The governor did not mention he has the power to reject Amazon critic Gianaris’ appointment to the Public Authorities Control Board.
Senate Democrats returned fire Friday, knocking Cuomo for his “attempts to divide Democrats.”
“The governor should spend less time with baseless attacks and attempts to divide Democrats and more time fixing his flawed economic development process so we can move forward and help business and the community thrive,” spokesman Mike Murphy said in a statement.
Despite his harsh words, Cuomo claimed the divisive issue hasn’t soured his relationship with legislators in the state capital — but he said voters may feel differently.
“No, it doesn’t spell trouble between me and them,” he said. “It spells trouble between them and the state of New York.”
Cuomo, who said last week he would not want to run for reelection after having opposed the deal, warned voters may be particularly irked at suburban Democrats across Long Island, the Hudson Valley and upstate.
“That’s where they’re going to pay a price,” the governor added.