EDITORIALS
OTHER VOICES
Letting Amazon go is a big mistake
Now that Amazon has
pulled put of the agreement to
come and relocate in the Long
Island City area, I hope that all
of those politicians who were
screaming about not allowing
the company to relocate here
are happy.
Do all of you realize what
you have done?
Because of your carping
over this, this area will not
have an additonal 25,000 jobs
created, nor a real economic
boom which would very much
have helped New York City
reduce its expenses.
All of you politicians should
hang your heads in shame
because of what you have done.
This may set a future precedent
for any other companies who
potentially may want to move
their corporate headquarters
to New York City.
We need to welcome big
companies to our great city, not
drive them away because some
loud-mouthed politicians do not
want them here.
John Amato
Fresh Meadows
AMAZON BLUES
Amazon’s stunning announcement that it will pull
out of the deal to bring its second headquarters — HQ2 —
to Long Island City is a major loss for Queens.
When the online retail giant first announced its
decision to bring its new headquarters to Long Island
City, it was hard to find a downside to the pending
move. The new headquarters would have brought
25,000 new jobs, and an expected economic boost to the
local economy.
It was also believed that the city and state would
have even more reason to funnel money into subways,
buses and a new tunnel under the Hudson River to
accommodate the expected economic boom to Long
Island City.
All of those factors will not only serve Amazon, but
more importantly, the people of Queens.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo both
expressed excitement regarding the project because of
its expected benefits, but while Amazon’s plan to bring
its new headquarters to Queens seemed like a slam
dunk, some elected officials in Queens could be held
responsible for Amazon’s decision to pull out of the deal.
State Sen. Michael Gianaris and City Councilman
Jimmy Van Bramer, who both represent the area, said
they were “not elected to serve as Amazon drones,”
believing that issues such as transportation, affordable
housing and schools should take precedence over
Amazon’s new headquarters.
And they are not wrong. Those issues are extremely
important and should not take a back seat to anything.
But this project would have helped fight those issues
with jobs, housing and transit among the key benefits
that Amazon’s new headquarters were expected to bring
to Queens.
But with their opposition of the headquarters, Van
Bramer and Gianaris seem to be part of the reason why
Amazon backed out.
“For Amazon, the commitment to build a new
headquarters requires positive, collaborative
relationships with state and local elected officials
who will be supportive over the long-term. While polls
show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and
investment, a number of state and local politicians have
made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not
work with us to build the type of relationships that are
required to go forward with the project we and many
others envisioned in Long Island City,” Amazon said in
a statement.
The opportunity was there for the taking and we
dropped the ball.
So what’s left for us here in Queens to do except
move on and continue working to build up our great
borough.
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