Amazon reconsiders NYC headquarters
Some politicians, advocacy groups have criticized plan
Amazon is reconsidering its plan to bring 25,000 jobs to a new campus in New York City following a wave of opposition from local politicians, according to two people familiar with the company’s thinking.
The company has not leased or purchased office space for the project, making it easy to withdraw its commitment.
Unlike in Virginia — where elected leaders quickly passed an incentive package for a separate headquarters facility — final approval from New York state is not expected until 2020.
Tennessee officials have also embraced Amazon’s plans to bring 5,000 jobs to Nashville, which this week approved $15.2 million in road, sewer and other improvements related to that project.
Amazon 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 question is whether it’s worth it if the politicians in New York don’t want the project, especially with how people in Virginia and Nashville have been so welcoming,” said one person familiar with the company’s plans.
Hailed as an economic triumph when it was announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio in November, both Democrats, the project in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens now faces withering criticism from some politicians 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 Jeff Bezos also owns The Washington Post.
In the past two weeks, the state Senate nominated an outspoken Amazon critic to a board where he could potentially veto the deal. City Council members for the second time aggressively challenged company executives at a hearing where activists booed and unfurled anti-Amazon banners.
Key officials, including freshman U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., whose district borders the proposed Amazon site, have rallied against the project.
Opponents went door-to-door to warn people in Queens of looming rent hikes and displacement, much as Seattle experienced during the company’s explosive growth there.
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 with a meeting of the state’s Public Authorities Control Board and a third City Council hearing expected later this month, Amazon executives may be reaching an inflection point, the people said.
“I think now is the time for Amazon to make a decision because it has to start hiring,” said one person. “At some point, the project starts to fall behind.”
Asked to comment on the possibility that the New York deal might founder, Amazon spokeswoman Jodi Seth said, “We’re focused on engaging with our new neighbors — small business owners, educators, and community leaders. Whether it’s building a pipeline of local jobs through workforce training or funding computer science classes for thousands of New York City students, we are working hard to demonstrate what kind of neighbor we will be.”
New York state and city officials have played down the chances that the deal will fall through. They pointed to opinion polls showing strong public support for the project and said Cuomo and de Blasio will fight hard for it.
“The Amazon transaction was probably the greatest economic transaction in 50 years in this state,” Cuomo said in a recent radio interview. “We don’t get a business to come with 25,000 jobs anymore. I spend hours and days trying to get 100 jobs, 200 jobs.”