PRIMED FOR STRIFE

Amazon foes gear up to limit its footprint in city

New York City politicians who scared Amazon out of building a headquarters in Queens plan to focus next on restricting the tech giant’s budding Big Apple retail business.

On the same day that the Seattle-based behemoth announced it will not build its second headquarters in Long Island City because of the chilly reception from elected officials, a group of city legislators were discussing plans to curb Amazon’s retail expansion in New York City.

Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) has 19 cosponsors on a bill to ban cashless retail venues, including two Amazon bookstores and an Amazon 4-Star shop, which features its most popular products.

All of them only accept electronic payments.

“There’s real concern that Amazon will displace small businesses and accelerate the trend toward a cashless economy,” Torres said.

The bill, introduced in November, could also deter Amazon from testing its newest concept in NYC: ready-to-eat food sold in stores run largely by machines. “No lines, no checkout — just grab and go!” says an ad for the Amazon Go store concept.

There are currently 10 Amazon Go stores in Seattle, Chicago and San Fran- cisco, with plans to open as many as 3,000 across the country. The automated store, which has sparked fears about jobs, is scheduled to open in Manhattan’s Brookfield Place soon, according to reports.

The Seattle retailer, run by billionaire Jeff Bezos, figured prominently in Thurs- day’s City Council subcommittee hearing to stop retailers from banning cash as a form of payment.

“Amazon has plans to open its own cashless businesses in major cities and I think we should intervene before the trend” takes off, Torres said during the hearing.

Supporters argue that re- quiring electronic payments discriminates against poor people who may not have bank accounts or credit cards — as well as minors.

But the bill is expected to hurt not just Amazon, but also a growing number of restaurants, like salad chain Sweetgreen, and taco restaurant Dos Toros Taqueria, which no longer accept cash in their eateries.

Restaurant owners spoke at the hearing arguing that eliminating cash has made their businesses more efficient and kept their workers safe from would-be robbers.

Local labor groups that have successfully kept Walmart out of the city have teamed up with Torres and are now talking of a similar crusade against Amazon.

Union group Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union — an arm of the powerful United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) — and Torres had planned a media event Wednesday at Amazon’s bookstore on West 34th Street to drive home their concerns.

They had planned for a student to make a purchase at the store and get turned away, but the event was canceled, a union spokeswoman said, because the student came down with the flu.

UFCW is largely responsible for preventing Walmart from opening stores in the Big Apple over the past decade.

“I think this is a major blow to the city,” Councilman Erich Ulrich (R-Ozone Park, Queens) told The Post about Amazon pulling out of NYC.

Ulrich said he would not support the cashless bill because it is another form of “excessive regulation.”