New York Times:
Amazon on Thursday canceled its plans to build an expansive corporate campus in New York City after facing an unexpectedly fierce backlash from some lawmakers and unions, who contended that a tech giant did not deserve nearly $3 billion in government incentives.
…The agreement to lure Amazon stirred an intense debate about the use of government incentives to entice wealthy companies, the rising cost of living in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, and the city’s very identity.
Big, surprising news that will have repercussions throughout the company.
“we’re going to pick an HQ2 that will bring 50,000 jobs!”
“Actually, we’re going to split that into two HQ2s with 25,000 apiece”
“OK really, just one new HQ2 with 25,000 jobs and the rest will just be spread among existing offices”
What I like about this is that the people who always talk about how government should be run like a business are getting that here. Just like a business looks out for its interest, so did this community. Too often the “government should run like a business” hypocrites really mean “… except when they negotiate with large companies, to whom they should just give whatever.”
Can’t say I’m surprised at all. My home state got played, almost as badly as Foxconn played Wisconsin. And I’ll bet Amazon used NY’s overtures to get even more favorable concessions from the states they’re already in. Despicable behavior on one side, incompetent carelessness on the other.
I agree with the backlash, giving one of the world’s richest companies a gargantuan tax break like that is complete nonsense. Put that money towards Amazon workers’ food stamps.
This whole endeavour was a circus. The only thing missing was Trump tweeting about how he was deal making for jobs in NY.
Here’s hoping this is a trend where companies are denied corporate welfare on such grandiose scale. Love it!
He hates Amazon, so no doubt he’ll be tweeting about it as soon as the Supreme Court denies him his emergency.