Amazon pulls out of NYC Headquarters Deal

Amazon has canceled plans to build a large corporate campus in New York City after extreme backlash from activists, lawmakers, and the general public. The tech-giant was recently involved in a long, extremely public search for a city to build a “second headquarters” – a large campus that would bring in millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to wherever they chose to locate to.

Hartford, along with Stamford, originally submitted a bid to be considered for the headquarters but never made it to the final stage. In November of 2018, Amazon announced that they would open two new sites– one in Long Island City, Queens, and one in Virginia. However, the announcement of the new headquarters came with backlash from lawmakers, activists, and some of the general public of New York City. Activists believe that a tech-giant such as Amazon “does not deserve nearly $3 billion in government incentives”, according to the New York Times.

These government incentives included large tax breaks intended to lure the tech-giant into the area. In a surprising move, Amazon announced on Thursday announced that they would be no longer pursuing Queens as a potential location for their new corporate campus. Citing the backlash from lawmakers and the community, they released a statement saying that “A number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward”. According to the New York Times, this decision came from the concern that the backlash in New York City was “tarnishing its image beyond the city”.

A large supporter of the group opposing Amazon in Queens is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the popular new Congressional Representative from New York City. Tweeting on Thursday that “Anything is possible” she expressed solidarity and support for the protestors and the general public who have defeated the company’s plans to move to Queens.

New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio said that Amazon “threw away” an opportunity to work in New York City, while Governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo, blamed new politicians who “put their narrow political interests above their community”.

Amazon has not announced yet which city it intends to pursue next.