Amazon eyes move to Industry City
Brooklynites have mixed reactions to online retail giant’s potential interest
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2020
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10 COURIER LIFE, AUG. 2-8, 2019
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BY ROSE ADAMS
With Amazon reportedly eyeing
up to 1 million square feet of space
within Sunset Park’s Industry City
for a new storage and shipping facility,
locals are split on what the tech
giant’s presence could mean for the
largely working-class, immigrant
community.
One longtime resident said the
neighborhood doesn’t need the type
of no-skill labor that Amazon’s factories
employ, and that what Sunset
Park really needs are more highpaying,
skilled manufacturing jobs.
“What do distribution centers
give?” asked Adrian Roman, a Sunset
Park resident and a member of a
community organization called El
Grito. “Those are low paying jobs.
They don’t really help the community.”
Amazon distribution facilities
have provided residents in other
communities throughout the city
with thousands of jobs, but not all
employees have spoken highly of
the work. A disgruntled employee at
the Staten Island fulfillment center
told the New York Times in March
that the company cracked down on
an attempt to unionize, in addition
to forcing employees to work long
hours with few breaks, although a
subsequent Times investigation disputed
some of those claims.
But the Staten Island employee
is not alone: In the last few months,
Amazon’s poor working conditions
have become an international focus .
On July 15, workers across the U.S.
and in five countries went on strike
to protest the company’s low wages
and dangerous working conditions.
Sunset Park’s Councilman Carlos
Menchaca echoed those complaints
when responding to the potential
Amazon facility in Industry City.
“If Industry City is serious about
being a good neighbor and having
Sunset Park’s best interests in
mind, it will not do business with
companies that are aiding in the terrorization
of immigrants or treats
its workers like robots,” he said last
Thursday.
Roman also worried about Amazon’s
use of facial recognition technology,
which the company has
pitched to police departments so
that cops can find suspects. Since a
large portion of Sunset Park is undocumented,
Roman feared that
such technology could put residents
at risk of deportation.
But others see the potential Amazon
expansion in Brooklyn as a sign
of progress. The company already
has a local presence, renting a space
in Sunset Park’s Liberty View Plaza
right next to Industry City. And many
say that distribution center’s jobs are
already part of the ecosystem of Sunset
Park’s working waterfront.
“It’s going to be a huge plus,” said
Jeffery Citron, a real estate lawyer,
who has seen the positive impact of tech
companies on New York’s economy.
“A distribution facility has to
have blue-collar jobs,” he added.
“That could be great for the surrounding
community.”
WHAT TILL AMAZON DELIVER?: New Yorkers are split over how a huge Amazon logistics
facility would impact Sunset Park. Industry City
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