The game is fixed, & big biz wins

Only in the warped world we live in does it make sense that cash-strapped New York City and State just signed up to give $3 billion in tax breaks and green money from you and me to one of the world’s richest companies for a new headquarters — or that any city or state would think to.

Not just because there can only be one headquarters for Amazon, by definition, and it’s in Seattle as it has been since 1994. The idea of a second headquarters in Long Island City, and third headquarters in Virginia, for Amazon is as daffy as when my daughter back in first grade used to call every one of her buddies her “best friend.”

But that’s the method to the madness of the grand competition that sucked in hundreds of cities in the U.S. and Canada: By dangling the alluring prize of a “headquarters,” dubbed HQ2, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos jangled loose extremely generous offers of taxpayer aid from strapped cities, like Detroit, that could scarcely afford the tab but also couldn’t afford not to bid.

Amazon was just doing what corporations do to U.S. cities and states: Romance them with the possibility of tens or hundreds or thousands of jobs, to be bought at a price of tax breaks and other incentives — while making clear that they’re also checking out other partners. That forces each city to bid up its price.

In this dysfunctional — bordering on disgusting — dating game Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio are mostly playing with the same money they spend freely on any suitor who calls.

The city will deliver Amazon about $1.3 billion in tax breaks over time — which would be available to any company locating in the boroughs.

Yes, New York City got played. Every city that participated in this national reality show did. The game is rigged, and Amazon won.