Amazon Remains Focused on 'Engaging With Our New Neighbors' on NYC HQ2
Amazon is focused on “engaging with our new neighbors -- small business owners, educators, and community leaders. Whether it’s building a pipeline of local jobs through workforce training or funding computer science classes for thousands of New York City students, we are working hard to demonstrate what kind of neighbor we will be,” an Amazon spokesperson emailed us Friday in response to reports the company is reconsidering its plans to build its HQ2 headquarters in New York’s Long Island City.
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A Friday story in The Washington Post, owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, said Amazon is reconsidering its plan to bring 25,000 jobs to a new campus in New York City “following a wave of opposition from local politicians” (see 1901300048). Opposition has been strong in City Council oversight hearings on the impact of the planned HQ2 in Long Island City, Queens (see 1901280001).
A recent survey by HarrisX, commissioned by Amazon, said 69 percent of New York City registered voters approve of the move, and 80 percent among residents in Queens. It said 85 percent of New York voters believe it’s very or somewhat likely HQ2 will create good jobs, 79 percent believe it will raise property values, 78 percent see it boosting the city’s economy; 68 percent see it contributing to New York City as an East Coast tech hub; 58 percent believe it will raise tax revenue; and 56 percent think it will create new opportunities for local and small businesses.
A hearing turned into a shouting match about Amazon’s expected impact after the company said it will recruit public-housing tenants for at least 30 customer-service jobs and invest in a “pathway to employment” cloud-computing “certificate program" with LaGuardia Community College of the City University of New York. “There’s “so much” that Amazon is getting from the city in tax abatements, subsidies and incentives to build HQ2, “and so little you are giving,” New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, D-Queens, whose District 26 is where HQ2 would be based, told Amazon executives at the Jan. 30 hearing.
Ardine Williams, Amazon vice president-people operations, took exception, saying those to be hired from public housing “are not the only 30.” It was agreed upon in Amazon's talks with community organizers.
The New York Building Congress coalition of business, labor, professional and governmental organizations, said Friday of Amazon there's "no doubt that New York should be their home." New York City "is the new capital of the tech industry, and this is where Amazon belongs," it said. "Their move to Long Island City will have an incredible economic impact on the five boroughs ... and send a message to companies around the world that New York is the place to be." Officials and residents should "support it as well,” the group said.