12 FEBRUARY 14, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
‘Scamazon’? That’s just ridiculous
Who needs Amazon in Long
Island City?” they ask.
Who needs 25,000
well-paying jobs (with an average
annual wage of $150,000) in this
borough at a time when the national
economy is slowing down?
Who needs to redevelop the
Anable Basin waterfront in Long
Island City and turn it into a hub
of commerce in Queens?
Who needs the billions upon
billions of dollars in taxpayer
revenue that the new jobs would
generate? Who needs the billions
upon billions of dollars in economic
power the new jobs would provide
to Queens and New York City?
Who needs the more than $27
billion the city and state would receive
BACK over the next 25 years in
exchange for a $3 billion investment
in Amazon now to develop their new
campus in Long Island City over the
next several years?
Who needs all this when we
can comfort ourselves in ideology
and class warfare? As a politician,
why would you take yes for an
answer on Amazon when you can
EDITORIAL
cow to an extremist base whose
“progressive” opposition to what
they call “#Scamazon” is the most
Bishop Mitchell Taylor is among many advocates in western Queens now
speaking out in support of the Amazon HQ2 plan.
regressive action seen in New York
City in decades?
“#Scamazon”?! That’s ridiculous.
And you know who understands
that? Most of you. Here’s how we
know.
Recent polls suggest that the
vast majority of Queens residents
— including in the district of state
Senator Michael Gianaris, who
now holds a key committee vote
that could put the kibosh on this
deal — support Amazon’s arrival
in Queens.
But a vocal minority has struck
fear into Gianaris and other local
politicians such as Councilman
Jimmy Van Bramer, and caused
such a stir that it gave Amazon
some pause about coming here, as
The Washington Post reported on
Feb. 8. The company, however, after
seeing a Feb. 12 poll suggesting
most New Yorkers support the
project, changed its tone.
Speaking of Gianaris and
Van Bramer, let’s remind you of
something: They were for Amazon
before they were against it. They
signed on to a 2017 letter along with
other city offi cials urging Amazon
founder Jeff Bezos to come to New
York City.
But the moment Bezos gave
approval of the deal with Governor
Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de
Blasio, they had a sudden change
of heart.
It was likely spurred by the
vocal minority opposed to the
Amazon deal, and Congressman
Joe Crowley’s sudden loss in last
year’s primary to Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez. They fear a similar
insurgency from the far left when
they run for offi ce again.
Talk about a profile in
cowardice.
Gianaris, Van Bramer and others
who previously supported Amazon
before turning against it cannot
just tell the world’s biggest retail
company to get lost. This is the real
world we’re living in; turning away
a project that would mean billions
of dollars in economic growth
and tens of thousands of new jobs
would be an utter disaster for
Queens — one we will all regret
for decades.
We respect that they have
concerns about the allocation of
jobs, whether those jobs should be
unionized, the need for improved
public transit, among others.
But rather than just saying no to
the whole deal, they should actively
work with Amazon to ensure that
the company, the city and state
work together to address those
concerns in the years to come.
If Amazon turns away from
New York City, it would send a
potentially crippling message to
the world: If the world’s largest
retail company can’t make it here,
who could — and who should?
So we call upon our readers
to call, email, tweet and write
to Mayor de Blasio, Governor
Andrew Cuomo, Senator Gianaris
and Councilman Van Bramer and
urge them to support the Amazon
deal and let them come to Queens.
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ESTABLISHED 1908
Co-Publishers
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
Editor-in-Chief
ROBERT POZARYCKI
Classifi ed Manager
DEBORAH CUSICK
Assistant Classifi ed Manager
MARLENE RUIZ
Reporters
EMILY DAVENPORT
MARK HALLUM
CARLOTTA MOHAMED
BILL PARRY
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