THE QUEENS
NOVEMBER 2018
PRIME TIME FOR LIC
Amazon’s HQ2 plan brings high hopes and big concerns
BY BILL PARRY AND ROBERT POZARYCKI
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Long Island City appears primed to become
the home of half of Amazon’s second headquarters.
Th e New York Times and Wall Street Journal
reported on Monday night that the Seattlebased
retail giant would likely create secondary
headquarters (HQ2) in Long Island City and
Arlington, Virginia, a suburb of Washington,
D.C.
For a year, New York City and state, along
with other municipalities nationwide, have been
wooing Amazon as the company sought a home
for HQ2. Even split in half between two cities,
the project has the potential to create thousands
of new high-tech jobs, pumping millions of dollars
in new economic activity into Queens.
Th e Times reported that Governor Andrew
Cuomo recently met with Amazon executives
as part of the state’s eff orts to attract the retailer.
Th e Amazon team also met separately with
Mayor Bill de Blasio.
On the Queens side of the East River, many
involved in business and politics expressed
optimism about Amazon’s potential arrival —
but also some reservations as to whether the
“World’s Borough’s” already-straining infrastructure
could meet Amazon’s needs and handle
the new infl ux of workers and residents.
Seth Bornstein, the executive director of the
Queens Economic Development Corporation,
was not surprised that LIC was a big winner in
the sweepstakes.
“I think this demonstrated that NYC, and
especially Queens, are attractive to new businesses
for all the reasons we know but the
main driver I venture to guess in that NYC and
Queens have the brain and brawn to fi ll any
position Amazon would ever need,” Bornstein
said. “We have the technology, especially now
with Cornell Technion, on one side and transportation
and a workforce that continues to
expand.”
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who has
represented Long Island City during its unprecedented
growth over nearly a decade, sounded a
cautious tone about the Amazon deal.
“HQ2 has to work for Queens, not just
Amazon,” Van Bramer said one week aft er the
de Blasio administration announced it would
invest $180 million in new funding to alleviate
Long Island City’s stressed infrastructure,
addressing improvements to schools, transportation,
parks and sewage and water systems
aft er a series of listening sessions with Van
Bramer and civic leaders.
“We already have an infrastructure defi cit in
LIC,” Van Bramer added. “We must ask how
such a complex would impact the people who
live in the surrounding neighborhoods. Th is
isn’t a done deal. Th e local community must be
heard.”
Brent O’Leary, the president of the Hunters
Point Civic Association, who announced he
would run for City Council in 2021 to replace
Van Bramer at the end of his term limit, believes
Amazon and Long Island City could coexist.
“Long Island City has become an important
tech hub and a great place for businesses,”
O’Leary said. “We are hopeful Amazon will
bring good jobs to the area and be a good partner
with the community.”
Amazon owner Jeff Bezos has declared he
would make his decision fi nal by the end of the
year.
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