12 FEBRUARY 28, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Who sabotaged the $27 billion dream deal?
If you’ve ever wondered what
the expression “the cow’s out of
the barn” means, take a look at
the actions of state Senate Majority
Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins
last weekend.
On Feb. 23, she announced that she
was withdrawing her nomination of
Astoria-based state Senator Michael
Gianaris from a seat on the Public
Authorities Control Board aft er taking
fl ak publicly from Governor Andrew
Cuomo over her choice.
There have been many acts of
political cowardice in this entire fi asco
— from the fl ip-fl oppers like Gianaris
and Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer
who were for Amazon before they were
against it; to other lawmakers who led
from behind, off ered the supportive
press release or two, but weren’t nearly
as loud as the vocal minority who
opposed the Amazon plan.
But Stewart-Cousins’ nomination
of Gianaris, and then her withdrawal
of his nomination, was a particularly
cowardly act worthy of its own
mention. It’s an example of politics at
its very worst.
Stewart-Cousins picked Gianaris to
EDITORIAL
the board on Feb. 4. This would have
given Gianaris the potential to veto
the entire plan — and many observers
believed that this was the straw that
fi nally broke Amazon’s back when it
came to its HQ2 vision for Queens.
Ten days later, on Feb. 14, the retail
giant gave new meaning to the term
“The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” by
announcing that it was pulling out of
its plans for Long Island City, taking
$27 billion in economic activity and at
least 25,000 jobs with it.
Cuomo rightly blamed Stewart-
Cousins’ selection of Gianaris as one
of the contributing factors to the deal’s
demise. In an obvious eff ort to save
some face, she subsequently withdrew
Gianaris’ nomination.
By then, of course, the cow was not
only out of the barn — it also managed
to burn the barn down on the way out.
At best, she didn’t realize where
Gianaris stood on the project (which
is impossible to believe). At worst, she
knew Gianaris’ opposition to Amazon,
and embraced it wholeheartedly.
She saw the opportunity to give him
power and provided it, fully realizing
along the way that it would jeopardize
Amazon’s fate in Queens.
We’re wise to remember that our
state, city and country are not direct
democracies. We elect representatives
to represent us and make the tough
decisions on our behalf.
They shouldn’t be swayed by
rabble-rousers and special interests.
They should always do the right thing,
and that is protecting and promoting
what’s best for their communities and
their voters.
This sorry episode was a toxic combo
of “politics as usual” and political
cowardice. Those elected to represent
us either fell in with the “in crowd” or
sat back and played it safe, putting their
own aspirations fi rst.
As one local civic leader said,
“Nobody should believe them. They let
us down.”
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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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