26 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 13, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
in Queens
Big Western Queens players part of Amazon advisory panel
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@cnglocal.com
@QNS
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor
Andrew Cuomo announced on Dec. 11
the formation of a Community Advisory
Committee to share information and
solicit ongoing community input about
Amazon’s planned HQ2 campus in Long
Island City.
Th e list of CAC members includes
LaGuardia Community College President
Dr. Gail Mellow, Urban Upbound
co-founder and CEO Bishop Mitchell
Taylor, Queens Chamber of Commerce
President and CEO Tom Grech, Pursuit
founder and CEO Jukay Hsu and Hour
Children Director Sister Tesa Fitzgerald.
Members of the CAC will work through
three subcommittees to develop plans
for the headquarters and onsite public
amenities, investments in neighborhood
infrastructure to benefi t the surrounding
communities, and training and hiring
programs to ensure that homegrown
talent fi lls the 25,000 good-paying new
jobs at the HQ2 campus over the next 10
years, with a plan to grow to 40,000 over
15 years.
“Amazon’s new headquarters will bring
more than 25,000 jobs benefi tting all
New Yorkers from NYCHA residents
to CUNY student,” de Blasio said. “Th e
Community Advisory Committee will
bring together stakeholders of all backgrounds
to help shape this important
plan. Robust community engagement is
critical to ensuring that the investments
and resources generated from this project
serve the needs of everyone in Long
Island City and beyond.”
Th e CAC’s 45 community members
were appointed in consultation with
elected offi cials and stakeholders. Th e
full CAC will meet quarterly starting in
Governor Andrew Cuomo shakes hands with Mayor Bill de Blasio at last month’s Amazon HQ2 announcement.
January and its three subcommittees will
meet nearly once a month during the
course of the planning process.
“Amazon’s new headquarters in Long
Island City is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
for our economy and community
input will be a critical part of the development
process,” Cuomo said. “We look
forward to working with local elected offi -
cials, community organizations and residents
to ensure their voices are heard
as we work to create tens of thousands
of well-paying jobs, generate billions in
revenue that will be reinvested in the
region, strengthen our infrastructure, and
expand opportunity to New Yorkers.”
Together with Empire State
Development, Long Island City
Partnership President Elizabeth Lusskin
and Community Board 2 Chairwoman
Denise Keehan-Smith will lead the Project
Plan Subcommittee, which will advise on
development of the General Project Plan
and issues related to the construction of
the new headquarters.
“Long Island City is a highly diverse,
mixed-use community and we look forward
to working with members of the
CAC and the entire community to ensure
that the voices of that mix — including
commercial, tech, industrial, retail, cultural,
small and large businesses, as well
as residential and students — inform this
project,” Lusskin said. “Only in that way
can it fulfi ll its promise to strengthen the
balance of those uses, while benefi ting
the larger community as well. Th is is the
largest economic development opportunity
ever for NYS and NYC, and if done
right, will have a lasting positive impact
on both, as well as LIC, for generations
to come.”
Photo by Kevin P. Coughlin/Offi ce of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Melva Miller of the Association for
a Better New York and Hunters Point
Park Conservancy President Rob Basch
will work with the NYCEDC in leading
the Neighborhood Infrastructure
Subcommittee. Th is group will advise the
city and state on infrastructure priorities
in the broader Long Island City neighborhood
and build on the $180 million
investment plan the de Blasio administration
recently announced.
Together with Amazon, Bishop Taylor,
Dr. Mellow and Jean Woods-Powell of
Information Technology High School
will lead the Workforce Development
Subcommittee, which will develop an
education-to-career workforce strategy
to ensure that New Yorkers of all backgrounds
have the skills and training to
access the employment opportunities at
the HQ2 campus.
Six in 10 Queens residents like Amazon plan, Quinnipiac poll fi nds
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@cnglocal.com
@QNS
When poll results released last week
showed a majority of New Yorkers,
and Queens residents in particular, support
Amazon’s deal to build one of its
HQ2 campus in Long Island City, the
e-commerce giant took to Twitter saying,
“We’re thrilled to see strong support
from New Yorkers.”
Th e Quinnipiac Poll found that 56
percent of New York City voters — and
60 percent of Queens voters — approve
“of Amazon locating one of its new
headquarters in Long Island City.”
“While New Yorkers give the thumbs
up to Amazon moving one of its headquarters
to Long Island City, they are
divided over the sizable carrot off ered
to the online retail giant,” Quinnipiac
University Poll Polling Analyst Mary
Snow said. “Th ey are united, however,
in their view that New York City should
have more of a say about Amazon’s
plans.”
Th e poll showed 79 percent of the voters
said New York City should be more
involved in bringing Amazon to Long
Island City.
Voters disapprove 31 to 38 percent of
the way Mayor Bill de Blasio handled
the Amazon deal. Queens voters are
divided as 34 percent approve and 32
percent disapprove. Governor Andrew
Cuomo gets mixed for his handling of
the Amazon deal, as 34 percent approve
and 38 percent disapprove.
The Quinnipiac University poll
showed 57 percent of New Yorkers surveyed
said they approve of the state
and city’s deal with the e-commerce
giant, with 60 percent of Queens voters
saying they support the move in
which Amazon has committed to creating
25,000 full-time jobs with an average
salary of $150,000 in the next 10
years, with a plan to grow to 40,000 over
15 years.
Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor
Bill de Blasio called the Amazon deal the
largest single eff ort to attract new jobs in
state history that will deliver more than
$186 billion in economic impact to New
York over the next 25 years.
Still, the poll results were met with
derision from several opponents of the
plan who dismissed it as meaningless.
“Th is poll doesn’t come close to
refl ecting the reality in our communities.
Not a single community member
with whom we’ve discussed the terms
of this deal has said they support it,”
Make the Road New York Co-Executive
Director Deborah Axt said.
Make the Road New York, a Jackson
Heights-based immigrant advocacy
organization, dismissed the survey noting
that Quinnipiac only contacts registered
voters. Queens is 47.5 percent
immigrant with a large proportion of
that being non-citizens.
“Th is poll ignores the outpouring of
outrage across New York City,” ALIGN
Executive Director Maritza Silva-Farrell
said. “It fails to capture the real opinions
and views of impacted New Yorkers
who know that Amazon’s HQ2 deal will
be devastating for our communities. We
need more public resources for housing,
transit, education and more, not to line
the pockets of giant corporations like
Amazon.”
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