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Hochul
away by the state of public
transportation and lack of
affordable housing, Hochul
expressed skepticism.
“They seemed very happy
to come here on Nov.
13,” Hochul explained. “I
certainly think transportation
and affordability
went into Amazon’s survey
of the area. There’s no
surprise when you come to
New York City that those
are issues. So I don’t agree
necessary, but I do think
they knew that they were
coming to a place of great
potential, high human
talent – great human capital,
world-class education
institutions… We are the
epicenter of the world in
many respects.”
Though she isn’t pointing
any fingers, Hochul is
convinced it was the political
opposition to Amazon
settling into Long Island
City’s Anable Basin that
drove the online retailer
to back out of the deal,
which the city and state
had sweetened with up to
$3 billion in tax incentives,
promised on the condition
that they brought 25,000 to
40,000 jobs.
About a week before
Amazon broke it off with
New York, state Sen. Michael
Gianaris was nominated
on Feb. 5 by senate
Majority Leader Andrea
Stewart-Cousins to serve
on the Public Authorities
Control Board, possibly
handing one of the most
outspoken opponents to
Amazon HQ2 the power to
veto the entire plan.
“It was an opportunity
for us to diversify, out of
just real estate, finance,
fashion and marketing,
this took us into a space
that we’ve been starting
to get a foothold in technology.
We’ve surpassed
Boston, now we’re number
two in the nation in terms
of tech jobs after Silicon
Valley,” Hochul continued.
“Nothing else would have
given us the opportunity
to scale it up so quickly.”
Hochul, without mentioning
specific names,
found much of the information
circulating from
other elected officials —
such as Congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
who represents a district
neighboring Long Island
City — misleading about
what New York was really
offering. The $3 billion
in tax incentives was not
money the state was “writing
a check” to Amazon for,
it was money they were not
going to collect later after
jobs had been created.
“When you look at the
colossal misunderstanding
people had of this – there
was not a pot of $3 billion
that was being handed
to Amazon that can now
be used for schools and
healthcare and social services.
That does not exist.”
Hochul said. “We were
simply going to take of the
$30 billion that Amazon
was going to bring to our
government in taxes and
resources, subtract $3 billion
of it. Now we have zero
… I think that was lost in
translation by some people
who didn’t care to be honest
about what we’re really
talking about here.”
The state itself only offered
$1.7 billion to Amazon
through Excelsior tax
credits, Hochul explained,
claiming that what the tech
giant was offered fairly routine
for any business bring
employment to New York.
“We do this all over the
state of New York, but we
just never had an opportunity
with this many jobs
and that’s why the numbers
seemed high,” Hochul said.
“We’re competing with
every other state in this
nation and we’ve been successful
with this model.”
New York’s total of $3
billion offered to Amazon
was just a small slice compared
to Maryland, which
offered them $8.5 billion
in incentives, or New Jersey
which offered $7 billion.
Tennessee even made
an offer, but is reportedly
withholding the details of
their proposal for the next
five years.
“I don’t want there to
be a perception that because
of this one incident
that we still don’t embrace
the opportunity to be a
global tech leader,” Hochul
said. “We want to dispel
the notion that this is the
fate that will befall all
businesses.”
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by e-mail at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com or
by phone at (718) 260–4564.
Continued from Page 1
Glendale
Board 5 currently has the
Edsall Avenue flooding issue
ranked ninth on its list of 36
budget requests for the fiscal
year 2019. Giordano said that
the response received in the
mayor’s preliminary budget
is that “capital funding restraints,
project capacity and
citywide priorities preclude
this project at this time.”
Shortly after he was
elected last year, City Councilman
Robert Holden joined
the effort and visited the site
with representatives of the
DEP and remained in contact
with the agency throughout
2018. Now, the city has come
up with a plan, though it will
not include a complete reconstruction
of Edsall Avenue.
The DEP has agreed to install
more catch basins along
Edsall Avenue and the DOT
will work in conjunction repaving
and re-pitching the
road and installing a curb
along the fence line that runs
along the MTA tracks.
“The flooding on Edsall
Avenue has been a burden
to local residents for
decades, and it is a shame
that it was ignored for so
long,” Holden said on Feb.
22. “Along with my colleagues
in the state Legislature,
we have stayed on
top of the DOT and DEP
to make them aware of the
depth of this problem, and
I’m happy that they have
finally come up with a
viable solution.”
No timetable for the project
has been set yet. Still,
Miller is pleased that it’s
finally on the city’s radar.
“We’re very happy the
city has come up with a plan,”
Miller said. “And we’re very
happy that the people of Edsall
Avenue won’t have to
put up with the ponding, the
mud and all the mosquitoes
that comes with it.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
Continued from Page 1
/schnepsmedia.com