Amazon announced that plans to build a new, expansive corporate campus, HQ2, in Long Island City in Queens were cancelled on Feb. 14.
For many New York City residents, the announcement brought about mixed feelings, as the plans were hotly contested between lawmakers and those who live in the area. A poll conducted by Siena College determined that 58 percent of registered city voters, and 70 percent of black voters, were in favor of Amazon’s plan, while 35 percent were opposed. This decision stems from the corporation’s decision that the controversial campus was hurting their overall image within the city of New York, thus meaning that it could potentially be detrimental for business in the future.
“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,” stated a press release from Amazon. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo sought to lure Amazon into Queens through a series of public subsidies in order to diversify the economy of the city and usher in an era of welcoming large technology companies to conduct business. It is estimated that Amazon’s campus would’ve brought $27.5 billion in tax revenue over the course of 25 years. The deal would have created 25,000 jobs to the region in exchange for $2.5 billion worth of tax breaks at the local and state levels for Amazon and an additional $500,000 in state construction subsidies and avoidance of the city’s zoning process.
Their plans were met with a public debate concerning whether the government should be allowed to create subsidies such as the deal struck with Amazon and how the very nature of the city is rapidly changing into an unrecognizable place for some individuals who have been born and bred there. Many feared that the establishment of the Amazon campus would rapidly cause Queens, an already over-built borough, to become gentrified, thus spurring an increase in the cost of living and leaving life-long residents without a place to go in a region where costs are already a concern for many.
“The fabric of the city changes each time another major corporation opens its doors,” stated one long-time New Yorker. “While it brings jobs and economic growth, there are so many people that might’ve felt the negative impacts of the deal had gone through, and I just can’t help but feel for them.” She discussed how there are positives and negatives to each decision made when a new company sets its eyes upon New York, but the controversy around Amazon’s plans were unlike any she had witnessed before.
Some New Yorkers are concerned that the fallout of the failed deal will cause other large companies to keep their distance from the city as property values that spiked in the months following Amazon’s initial announcement are now expected to return to their pre-announcement levels. For an area of the city that is already overbuilt, the question hangs for many New Yorkers (whether overjoyed or saddened by Amazon’s cancellation of HQ2): “What will become of Long Island City?”