New York Daily News

‘Disgrace!’ cries Long Is. City pol

- BY JULIANNA HERNANDEZ, JILLIAN JORGENSEN

Not everybody is welcoming Amazon with open arms.

The news that the tech giant would open a new headquarte­rs in Long Island City was touted by Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio Tuesday — but other local elected officials ripped the plan as a $3 billion giveaway that cut the community out of the decision-making process.

“This is disgrace on so many levels,” Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who represents Long Island City, told the Daily News. “First, they literally beg Jeff Bezos to come here by pointing out where the safe is and telling him all the money is in there, take whatever you want.”

But the deal will also be exempt from the city's land use review procedure — which requires public input and a vote in the City Council.

“They said not only are we going to give you anything you ask for, but then we're going to rig the process and we're going to change how we do this to guarantee that this can't be stopped,” Van Bramer said.

Council Speaker Corey Johnson also ripped the decision to use the state's “general project plan” mechanism rather than putting the question to the City Council.

“Amazon is one of the richest companies in the world, but you can't put a price on community input, which has been missing throughout this entire process,” Johnson said. “I find that lack of engagement and the fact that the negotiatio­ns excluded the City Council – which is elected by New Yorkers to guide land use projects with communitie­s in mind – extremely troubling.”

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