"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.
Comment: A Siena College poll asked: "Do you approve or disapprove of the recently announced deal between Amazon and New York, which grants up to $3 billion in state and city incentives to Amazon in return for Amazon locating its corporate offices in Queens, where it is projected to generate 25,000 jobs?"
The result: 56 percent of voters statewide approved, while 36 percent didn't.
In New York City, 58 percent of registered voters backed the plan, while 35 percent were opposed. Also, minorities were the biggest Amazon boosters.
Among black voters, 70 percent backed the deal while only 25 percent objected. Among Latinos, 81 percent supported Amazon while only 17 percent were opposed.
Apparently crazed liberals like AOC care less about the wishes of their constituents and providing them with jobs than in fighting against "corporate greed". How exactly that works, only AOC in her distorted worldview knows.
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.
In a statement provided to Fox News, de Blasio said that New York City gave Amazon an opportunity and it "threw away that opportunity."
"You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world," de Blasio said in the statement. "Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity. We have the best talent in the world and every day we are growing a stronger and fairer economy for everyone. If Amazon can't recognize what that's worth, its competitors will."
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that "anything is possible," taking a victory lap upon hearing the news.
Bankrate.com's senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick called it a "stunning development," adding: "For those who didn't want Amazon to bring the promised 25,000 new jobs and added economic vitality to the area: Be careful what you wish for."
The opposition against HQ2 has been mounting in recent months. In December, for example, Amazon execs were grilled and jeered at a New York City Council meeting over the deal.
Earlier this month, reports surfaced that Amazon was reconsidering its plans for its New York office, which led to cheers from Ocasio-Cortez. "Can everyday people come together and effectively organize against creeping overreach of one of the world's biggest corporations? Yes, they can," the freshman lawmaker tweeted.
Ocasio-Cortez has also slammed the company for having bias in its facial recognition technology.
In a statement, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo expressed his frustration over Amazon's nixed New York City headquarters. "Bringing Amazon to New York diversified our economy away from real estate and Wall Street, further cementing our status as an emerging center for tech and was an extraordinary economic win not just for Queens and New York City, but for the entire region, from Long Island to Albany's nanotech center," he said.
"However, a small group politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community -- which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City -- the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state. The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity."
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."
The deal was greeted with much fanfare when it was announced last year and was lauded as a major economic boost.
Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had touted the benefits of Amazon's HQ2, which included a pledge from the tech giant 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.
In addition to the 25,000 jobs, Amazon would've brought $2.5 billion in Amazon investment and eventually 8 million square feet of office space to Long Island City as part of its investment announced last November. The Seattle-based company said it would have generated "incremental tax revenue of more than $10 billion over the next 20 years as a result of Amazon's investment and job creation."
According to a December Quinnipiac University poll, 57 percent of New York City residents support Amazon's arrival in the region, compared to just 26 percent who oppose the deal, Fox Business previously reported.
Amazon faced fierce opposition over the tax breaks it was offered in New York, with critics complaining that the project was an extravagant giveaway to one of the world's biggest companies and that it wouldn't provide much direct benefit to most New Yorkers.
"This announcement marks a landmark victory for our communities and shows the power of the people, even when taking on the world's richest man," said Deborah Axt, co-executive director of the anti-poverty group Make the Road New York.
She said the Amazon was getting "taxpayer giveaways" so that it could "force its empire-building on our neighborhoods."
There had also been concerns about what Amazon's decision could do to already rising real estate prices in the area, but Hamrick said Thursday's announcement won't solve those problems.
"From a broader view, this decision will do nothing to resolve the challenges associated with housing affordability voiced by critics of the Amazon decision and the generous tax incentives offered by government," Hamrick said in comments obtained by Fox News. "That requires a bigger conversation which could very well unfold along with the 2020 election cycle."
Reader Comments
In the commentary to the articles listed on SOTT re Ocasio-Cortez the phrase "Apparently crazed liberals like AOC" or some variation is included.
I guess it's clear where they stand on her.
AOC:
crazed
distorted views
By the way, Amazon got another tax rebate this year, good thing they don't have to pay those nasty taxes.... or make a profit on their internet business of selling products.... good thing they are allowed to destroy the OWO 'bricks and mortar' businesses to prepare for the NWO.
yeah, right?
AOC and Alexa are sisters:
Amazon's Alexa now emitting 'bone chilling' laughter & ignoring user commands
There are plenty of stories of artificial intelligence gone wrong. But recent reports from owners of Amazon Alexa devices are being called 'bone chillingly creepy.' Some users say their...Without the $3 billion sweetener, why in the name of Harvard Business School would Amazon want to relocate to Long Island City? (1) The starting wage in New York for a trash collector is about $150,000 a year. Labor for Amazon would be ferociously expensive, (2) Long Island City is separated from the rest of America by bridges and tunnels, which cost a car about $10-$15 to transit. A truck delivering goods to the Amazon center from New Jersey, or redistributing them from Long Island back over to New Jersey, probably (I'm guessing) would cost about $100-$200 to transit, (3) Long Island City is far from centrally located on the East Coast. It is stuck out there on the edge of the continent out in the ocean, and (4) Last but not least, sea levels are rising fast, and in 10-15 years' time Long Island, 4 feet above sea level at its highest point, and Manhattan too, may have to be abandoned along with about 50 million homes on the East Coast of America, as property, roads, subways, power stations and railroads flood and sink beneath the waves.
Long-term, Northern Virginia, well above sea level, with an equally talented population, lower wages, centrally located and far better connected to the rest of America via I-95, I-81, and I-66, and still-expensive but lower-than-NYC property costs, is far and away the better choice. Without the $3 billion incentive, there is no reason whatsoever for Amazon to situate itself on Long Island. Even WITH the $3 billion, it was a bad choice. The whining SJW women Democrats in New York Politics are more trouble to any businessman, even an honest one like Jeff Bezos, than they are worth. It's an unacceptable risk, to hope they might keep their word, and would not later throw hissy-fits even worse than they are already doing and renege on their promises. Imagine the need for tax money for the city to stave off the inevitable, as the waters rise, and ask yourself if the $3 billion incentives would still apply. Most likely not. Act of God, Force Majeure, and all those nice words, meaning fork over the tax money, you poor idiot, did you really believe those guys when they promised you $3 billion? Caveat Emptor, sucker.
Tax breaks for corporations are called corporate welfare. Why bother when corporations typically cry after the breaks are gone and leave after? It happened to Puerto Rico pharmaceutical companies.
And no, trash guys don't get 150k even at top pay. Unless they are working 24 hours a day, it's impossible. Nobody seems to be upset about executive pay on the millions/billions though. Way to go Americans for being buffoons...