FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 25, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
LIC makes fi nal list of potential Amazon HQ2 sites
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
Aft er sift ing through 238 proposals,
e-commerce giant Amazon has whittled
down its choices for a second headquarters
to 20 locations — and Long Island
City is one of them.
In October, the city chose four neighborhoods
to pitch to Amazon — Midtown
West, Long Island City, Brooklyn Tech
Triangle and Lower Manhattan. Th ese
places were chosen because they met two
key criteria: they have the square footage
available for development (8.1 million
square feet) and are close to public transportation
and major airports.
Th ough Amazon did not specify which
of the neighborhoods it is leaning toward,
Queens may have a shot at becoming the
place where the company brings as many
as 50,000 jobs and invests more than $5
billion in construction.
Cities around the country tried making
the case for why their location would
best serve Amazon and many off ered
large tax incentives to entice the company.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris
Christie off ered the company $7 billion
in city and state tax incentives. Newark is
one of 20 cities in contention.
New York City offi cials have said the
company will not be eligible for any special
incentives beyond what is available to
other companies.
“Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough
– all the proposals showed tremendous
enthusiasm and creativity,” the company
said in a tweet.
In the proposal, Long Island City was
described as a “creative, mixed-use neighborhood”
and “the city’s industrial innovation
center.”
Its proximity to JFK Airport, LaGuardia
Airport, Penn Station and Grand Central
were touted along with its variety of
restaurants, bars, museums and other cultural
institutions. Th e neighborhood also
has more than 13 million square feet of
“fi rst-class real estate,” according to the
proposal.
Th omas Grech, president and CEO of
the Queens Chamber of Commerce, said
that he is “optimistic” about Long Island
City’s chances.
“Th e Queens Chamber of Commerce
is thrilled to learn that New York City,
in particular, Queens County is one of
the 20 fi nalists for hq2,” he said. “From
day one, we rallied together, led by our
Photo courtesy of Flickr/Gabe Shore
Borough President Melinda Katz, along
with NYC Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen and
EDC President and CEO James Patchett
to put together the very best proposal. I
am optimistic that once all the boxes are
checked by the leadership of Amazon,
they, too, will understand why they need to
put a fl ag in the ground of Queens County.
Our educational resources, infrastructure
and diversity sets us apart from all others.”
It is not clear when the company will
announce its fi nal decision.
Long Island City is one of 20 fi nalists for Amazon’s second headquarters.
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