A clarification: NYC didn't offer Amazon subsidies. New York State did. That's really the core of the tension - the whole deal was negotiated in secret then announced to the world as a finished product. That tends not to earn you goodwill with city politicians you deliberately excluded from the process.
My understanding was that Amazon was intending to use existing city programs to fund $1.3B of the $3B in incentives, most of that tied to the number of employees they hire to work in specific zones including LIC [1].
Why do they have to involve the city politicians in the decision-making process if they don't need any special treatment?
[1] "While New York City has not offered Amazon any direct subsidies, the company also plans to take advantage of two city tax breaks that will further sweeten the deal by nearly $1.3 billion.
One is the Relocation and Employment Assistance Program, which offers businesses moving to certain parts of the city a tax credit of up to $3,000 per employee for 12 years. The program will benefit Amazon to the tune of $897 million, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
The other is the Industrial & Commercial Abatement Program, which provides property tax abatements. It will be worth nearly $400 million to Amazon, Cuomo said."
As an NYC resident I'm glad my elected officials are "butt hurt" at not being involved in a political process that would affect the city in a large way. If they weren't "butt hurt" they really shouldn't be in their jobs.
I am also an NYC resident and followed this story closely. There was an immediate, knee-jerk reaction from local politicians when the announcement was made, often in the form of protests with plenty of photo ops. It was not about how to work with Amazon and the community to create something that works for everyone. Instead, their message was "WE DON'T WANT THIS, GET OUT NOW!"
At the end of the day, this city needs to curb its reliance on finance jobs. Adding 25k tech workers would be a major step forward to making NY more of a tech hub than it is today. Kicking out Amazon sends a message to other large companies who are thinking about NYC -- buyer beware.
as a New Yorker (1.5 hr drive from Manhattan) this makes me sad.
while there is a low chance I would have worked there I was considering the potential reality of trying it out for a few months and see what their telework policy is (I am currently 99.5% remote)
I was excited about this. I think NYC is losing out in the long run on development/income/more transactions of all kinds which in general is good for the economy.
NYC by virtue of political clout gets to meddle in all sorts of issues that affect upstate and warp them for it's own benefit. This time the state cut a deal that NYC wasn't in on and NYC didn't like it but at the end of the day it's still getting what it wants.
Having self government on a local level but then getting constantly steamrolled by a state government that is dominated by some other city really sucks. NYC (and Boston, and Chicago, and a whole load of other cities that dominate their state government) should try it sometime.
On one hand I'm annoyed that an opportunity for part of NYC to feel what that's like was missed by this > < much.
On the other hand the deal that NYS cut with Amazon was a boondoggle load of crap that set a terrible precedent so I'm glad it's not happening.
I assure you, we know exactly what that is like when we watch things like MTA funds being reassigned to save upstate ski resorts. And gobs and gobs of money being spent on the East Side Access train tunnel, at the expense of our failing subway system.
New York State has plenty of control over things that matter to the city, and doesn't hesitate to prioritize state concerns.
Thats been common lingo since I was a kid. It implies a specific jealousy based stubbornness, similar to sour grapes, but with an asinine element. I dont see your problem and think it is rude to police language.
what? I didn't justify it at all. Of course we're not in high school and no it shouldn't be used on this site. just pointing out how it has nothing to do with 4chan and that its just a childish insult.
Yeah, completely sidestepping your largest municipal government (and country's largest for that matter) and negotiating a secret deal with a private company should be completely fine and doesn't shit all over federalism in the slightest!
