12 NOVEMBER 15, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
EDITORIAL
Delivering a big deal to Queens
The ink was barely dry on the
agreement between Amazon,
the city and state on creating
part of the retail giant’s second headquarters
in Long Island City when the
critics began crying foul.
To be sure, there are plenty of
concerns about this multibillion-dollar
deal and its profound impact on
Queens. Where do you fit at least
25,000 new commuters on the borough’s
already overwhelmed public
transit lines? What kind of eff ect will
it have on the real estate market?
While all these questions are valid,
in our opinion, there’s no way the city
and state could have aff orded to pass
this opportunity by.
First, the total number of jobs to be
created is quite staggering. Amazon fi rst
said it would create about 25,000 jobs at
the LIC headquarters, but Governor
Andrew Cuomo indicated that number
could actually be about 40,000 jobs by
2034. These aren’t low-wage jobs, either;
Amazon reported the average salary for
each employee at $150,000 a year.
The economic activity generated
from these new jobs will pump
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
ALEJANDRA O'CONNELL-DOMENECH
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hundreds of millions of dollars into the
city and state. Cuomo estimated that
for every dollar spent by taxpayers on
tax incentives to Amazon, the city and
state would reap nine dollars back.
We’re talking billions upon billions
of dollars in new revenue for a city
and state always wanting to rebuild
its infrastructure — including
modernizing rail lines and creating
new transit alternatives — but lacking
the necessary funds to do it. And there
should be plenty of funds left over to
boost local schools and help incentivize
aff ordable housing development
borough-wide.
The critics of this plan — namely
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer
and state Senator Michael Gianaris
— sounded their distaste for the deal,
calling it a “corporate welfare” giveaway.
They also claimed the state
and city were ramming the project
through without going through the
proper zoning review process, which
requires a litany of public hearings
and votes.
We believe in the process, and that
process should be followed through.
However, as Cuomo pointed out on Nov.
13, every city and state in the nation
competed for Amazon HQ2 — and
every city and state off ered what it
deemed was the best benefi t package
possible to lure the giant their way.
Of course, that means tax breaks
and incentives, which is nothing new.
It’s par for the course, and not unlike
public subsidies for creating a new
stadium for a sports team.
But instead of subsidizing franchises
featuring million-dollar ballplayers,
in this Amazon HQ2 deal, Queens gets
the promise of thousands of new jobs
and a surge of economic activity.
Next to the 1986 Mets, we can’t think
of a bigger win for this borough.
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