Governor Andrew Cuomo begged Amazon to reconsider its decision to back out of plans to bring HQ2 to Queens after public criticism, while in northern Virginia, the company is facing protests and calls for hearings on a similar project.
Eighteen months after the e-commerce giant launched its search for a second headquarters, the company’s site-selection plans are no less controversial. Critics say governments shouldn’t be lavishing subsidies on Amazon, whose presence is likely to drive up housing costs, middle and low income families out of the area and increase traffic congestion for Cuomo to tax the little people.
New York civic leaders published an open letter to Amazon, promising that Cuomo will personally oversee state approval and a package of tax incentives totaling about $3 billion, and apologizing for the “rough and not very welcoming” debate that prompted the company to withdraw. Cuomo himself didn’t sign the letter, but the New York Times reported that he had made a personal pitch to Bezos in an effort to revive the deal.
The letter, signed by local politicians and executives, appeared in the New York Times just hours after protesters disrupted a networking event in Arlington, Virginia, where hundreds of local real estate professionals had paid $200 each to hear from Holly Sullivan, Amazon’s head of economic development, talk about the company’s plans for an area in Virginia that Amazon has rebranded as National Landing.
Pay to play is not OK!
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