Amazon pulls out of plan to build New York City headquarters
FoxNews – Amazon announced Thursday it was turning back on its plans to build its second headquarters in New York City, a company spokesman said in a statement. The move comes after pressure from lawmakers, notably Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who bemoaned the project.
“After much thought and deliberation, we’ve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens,” the Seattle-based Amazon said in the release.
“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,” the statement reads.
OCASIO-CORTEZ CHEERS AS AMAZON REPORTEDLY RECONSIDERS NY HQ AFTER FIERCE OPPOSITION
The company added that it is “disappointed to have reached this conclusion.”
“We are deeply grateful to Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio, and their staffs, who so enthusiastically and graciously invited us to build in New York City and supported us during the process,” the company continued in the statement.
Amazon said it would proceed as planned with the second part of its HQ2, which will be built in Northern Virginia, as well as its distribution center that it said it would open in Nashville. It will also continue to “hire and grow across our 17 corporate offices and tech hubs in the U.S. and Canada.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had previously touted the deal’s benefits, which include a pledge from Amazon to create 25,000 jobs, paying an average of $150,000 per year in exchange for a slew of city and state tax breaks and subsidies worth up to $3 billion.
Source: US Government Class
