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> Amazon executives met two weeks ago with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in the governor’s Manhattan office, said one of the people briefed on the process, adding that t

> Amazon executives met two weeks ago with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in the governor’s Manhattan office, said one of the people briefed on the process, adding that the state had offered potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies > “I am doing everything I can,” Governor Cuomo told reporters when asked Monday about the state’s efforts to lure the company. “We have a great incentive package,” he said. > “I’ll change my name to Amazon Cuomo if that’s what it takes,” Governor Cuomo said. “Because it would be a great economic boost.” If these quotes are truly representative of Cuomo's attitude towards Amazon, that's an incredible amount of pandering for the governor of the state containing New York City to be doing. Isn't large amounts of incentives for Amazon essentially a trickle-down economics policy? Interesting to see that Cuomo, ostensibly a progressive, would be for such a thing.

JumpCrisscross 8y ago
> that's an incredible amount of pandering for the governor of the state containing New York City to be doing Pandering is free. I imagine infrastructure-based incentives will be popular in New York. Large tenants make big infrastructure possible. That enables further density, which means more jobs, more municipal budget and more demand for local commerce. Turning Amazon's HQ2 into the catalyst for building out Western Brooklyn and LIC infrastructure isn't a bad trade for the city. (Tax credits would be tone deaf, but if done in a budget-neutral manner could be okay.) New York City is a commercial centre. Pragmatism wins votes.
- dunpeal 8y ago
  Indeed. Many people will say dropping a huge Amazon campus in Queens will adversely effect the character of the city, and exacerbate many of its issues. I don't necessarily disagree with them, and if it was up to me, I'd rather Amazon land in Dallas that probably needs the jobs more. However, this will be an objectively good thing for NYC as a center of commerce, and help establish it as a tech hub at a time its local job market isn't doing all too well. Moreover, I doubt Amazon will game the system so excessively that it won't end up paying in taxes and investment and influx of business and salaries much more than it will receive in tax breaks. It's unlikely they'll game the system so badly because it's not wise to screw the municipal authorities that can make your life miserable.
  - ianai 8y ago
    It effectively puts them in the heart of government and business. In hindsight it’s a pretty strong choice. Really wish they had chosen somewhere that really needed work though.
  - killjoywashere 8y ago
    > I'd rather Amazon land in Dallas that probably needs the jobs more. Having lived there, disincentivizing jobs and thereby incentivizing emmigration is the best outcome for most people in the DFW area. What a hellhole. "I want to die in Dallas" said noone ever.
    - sremani 8y ago
      Dallas is not a hellhole, yea may be a couple of months in Summer. I am confused about Dallas being a contender, but Texas Enterprise Fund usually makes a hard to refuse offer. Still, do not think Amazon is going to land here. Having said that, Dallas in a logistical center, especially it has become a national distribution point for goods coming from Mexico to US. It also makes sense if Amazon is splitting HQ2 into two smaller one, instead of having two HQs in East Coast, might as well send one part to central timezone.
      - C1sc0cat 8y ago
        Given Amazon's workforce demographics the optics of a very Red state don't look good.
        unstuckdev 8y ago
        It does if they enforce their non-discrimination policies. The oppressed need jobs too. Also, news media's love of simplification has really twisted people's view of states other than their own. Georgia is about as "blue" as California or New York, but most of it is concentrated in a few counties in Metro Atlanta amid 159 state-wide. People mistake resolution for politics. If an alleged "blue" state had as many counties as Georgia, those county election maps would look awfully red too. But since they don't, the counties that lean D take up more space, and the extremes on both ends are attenuated in a larger pool so red doesn't look as red. The south in particular is notorious for having lots of counties. It was a way to get more money during Reconstruction. There's a reason the most prosperous former Confederate states have more counties even if you exclude those formed post-Reconstruction.
- bogomipz 8y ago
  >"I imagine infrastructure-based incentives will be popular in New York. Large tenants make big infrastructure possible. That enables further density, which means more jobs, more municipal budget and more demand for local commerce. Turning Amazon's HQ2 into the catalyst for building out Western Brooklyn and LIC infrastructure isn't a bad trade for the city" What infrastructure is that exactly? Long Island City and Greenpoint/Williamsburg have already been absurdly built up by developers over the last two decades. It's hard to believe an influx of new tens of thousands of individuals to fill vacancies at Amazon is going to produce new train tunnels under the East River or new bridges over it. NYC already has large tenants - Google, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Verizon etc, and the city's infrastructure woes have worsened despite their presence. I would also imagine that much of the gain in the local tax coffers by the additional work force will be offset by whatever tax deals the city and states extends to Amazon.
  - CoolGuySteve 8y ago
    This is such a glib response. - The G train can be elongated and run more often. Signal work can allow it to run more frequently with the F. - The East Side LIRR extension can be expedited. - The circumferential freight line can be restored to create a new transit line between Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. - The L train restoration can be expedited. All these project are cheap and would increase the livibility of NYC outside of Manhattan, while also shortening commute time to LIC.
    - ilteris 8y ago
      Ferry transportation is also becoming mainstream
      - Cthulhu_ 8y ago
        Ferry transportation doesn't scale to tens of thousands of commuters though. I think.
        prepend 8y ago
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
fipple 8y ago
Surprised to see Cuomo go on record with that quote given how it will be used against him when he runs for President.
noobermin 8y ago
Cuomo isn't a progressive.
chimeracoder 8y ago
> Interesting to see that Cuomo, ostensibly a progressive, would be for such a thing. Cuomo literally engineered a Republican majority in the state senate, even though the Democrats had been elected to the majority, so that he wouldn't be pressured to sign overly-progressive legislation before his 2020 run.
snappyTertle 8y ago
It's conservative to let people keep what they earn. It's progressive to take from people (tax) and give to Amazon in the form of subsidies.
gregw2 8y ago
I would love for Amazon to actually take him up on this. It would be an great illustration for all time of politicians being in the back pockets of corporations. I think we should tease all politicians offering tax breaks to corporations that they might as well say their first name is "Amazon". I think we should have a federal legislation, (allowed under the interstate commerce clause), banning the current race to the bottom for states and municipalities to offer tax breaks to corporations. Sure we'd have to still deal with companies leaving the US but the leverage is different there and it'd be a start. Am I wrong?
rockarage 8y ago
Interesting enough, he did not have to make these concessions, Amazon wants to come to NY, regardless. "This will be New York or it will be DC - Prof. Galloway, Feb 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3baKe4B3eyI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3baKe4B3eyI

JumpCrisscross 8y ago

> that's an incredible amount of pandering for the governor of the state containing New York City to be doing Pandering is free. I imagine infrastructure-based incentives will be popular in New York. Large tenants make big infrastructure possible. That enables further density, which means more jobs, more municipal budget and more demand for local commerce. Turning Amazon's HQ2 into the catalyst for building out Western Brooklyn and LIC infrastructure isn't a bad trade for the city. (Tax credits would be tone deaf, but if done in a budget-neutral manner could be okay.) New York City is a commercial centre. Pragmatism wins votes.

dunpeal 8y ago
Indeed. Many people will say dropping a huge Amazon campus in Queens will adversely effect the character of the city, and exacerbate many of its issues. I don't necessarily disagree with them, and if it was up to me, I'd rather Amazon land in Dallas that probably needs the jobs more. However, this will be an objectively good thing for NYC as a center of commerce, and help establish it as a tech hub at a time its local job market isn't doing all too well. Moreover, I doubt Amazon will game the system so excessively that it won't end up paying in taxes and investment and influx of business and salaries much more than it will receive in tax breaks. It's unlikely they'll game the system so badly because it's not wise to screw the municipal authorities that can make your life miserable.
- ianai 8y ago
  It effectively puts them in the heart of government and business. In hindsight it’s a pretty strong choice. Really wish they had chosen somewhere that really needed work though.
- killjoywashere 8y ago
  > I'd rather Amazon land in Dallas that probably needs the jobs more. Having lived there, disincentivizing jobs and thereby incentivizing emmigration is the best outcome for most people in the DFW area. What a hellhole. "I want to die in Dallas" said noone ever.
  - sremani 8y ago
    Dallas is not a hellhole, yea may be a couple of months in Summer. I am confused about Dallas being a contender, but Texas Enterprise Fund usually makes a hard to refuse offer. Still, do not think Amazon is going to land here. Having said that, Dallas in a logistical center, especially it has become a national distribution point for goods coming from Mexico to US. It also makes sense if Amazon is splitting HQ2 into two smaller one, instead of having two HQs in East Coast, might as well send one part to central timezone.
    - C1sc0cat 8y ago
      Given Amazon's workforce demographics the optics of a very Red state don't look good.
      - unstuckdev 8y ago
        It does if they enforce their non-discrimination policies. The oppressed need jobs too. Also, news media's love of simplification has really twisted people's view of states other than their own. Georgia is about as "blue" as California or New York, but most of it is concentrated in a few counties in Metro Atlanta amid 159 state-wide. People mistake resolution for politics. If an alleged "blue" state had as many counties as Georgia, those county election maps would look awfully red too. But since they don't, the counties that lean D take up more space, and the extremes on both ends are attenuated in a larger pool so red doesn't look as red. The south in particular is notorious for having lots of counties. It was a way to get more money during Reconstruction. There's a reason the most prosperous former Confederate states have more counties even if you exclude those formed post-Reconstruction.
bogomipz 8y ago
>"I imagine infrastructure-based incentives will be popular in New York. Large tenants make big infrastructure possible. That enables further density, which means more jobs, more municipal budget and more demand for local commerce. Turning Amazon's HQ2 into the catalyst for building out Western Brooklyn and LIC infrastructure isn't a bad trade for the city" What infrastructure is that exactly? Long Island City and Greenpoint/Williamsburg have already been absurdly built up by developers over the last two decades. It's hard to believe an influx of new tens of thousands of individuals to fill vacancies at Amazon is going to produce new train tunnels under the East River or new bridges over it. NYC already has large tenants - Google, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Verizon etc, and the city's infrastructure woes have worsened despite their presence. I would also imagine that much of the gain in the local tax coffers by the additional work force will be offset by whatever tax deals the city and states extends to Amazon.
- CoolGuySteve 8y ago
  This is such a glib response. - The G train can be elongated and run more often. Signal work can allow it to run more frequently with the F. - The East Side LIRR extension can be expedited. - The circumferential freight line can be restored to create a new transit line between Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. - The L train restoration can be expedited. All these project are cheap and would increase the livibility of NYC outside of Manhattan, while also shortening commute time to LIC.
  - ilteris 8y ago
    Ferry transportation is also becoming mainstream
    - Cthulhu_ 8y ago
      Ferry transportation doesn't scale to tens of thousands of commuters though. I think.
      - prepend 8y ago

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

fipple 8y ago

Surprised to see Cuomo go on record with that quote given how it will be used against him when he runs for President.

noobermin 8y ago

Cuomo isn't a progressive.

chimeracoder 8y ago

> Interesting to see that Cuomo, ostensibly a progressive, would be for such a thing. Cuomo literally engineered a Republican majority in the state senate, even though the Democrats had been elected to the majority, so that he wouldn't be pressured to sign overly-progressive legislation before his 2020 run.

snappyTertle 8y ago

It's conservative to let people keep what they earn. It's progressive to take from people (tax) and give to Amazon in the form of subsidies.

gregw2 8y ago

I would love for Amazon to actually take him up on this. It would be an great illustration for all time of politicians being in the back pockets of corporations. I think we should tease all politicians offering tax breaks to corporations that they might as well say their first name is "Amazon". I think we should have a federal legislation, (allowed under the interstate commerce clause), banning the current race to the bottom for states and municipalities to offer tax breaks to corporations. Sure we'd have to still deal with companies leaving the US but the leverage is different there and it'd be a start. Am I wrong?

rockarage 8y ago

Interesting enough, he did not have to make these concessions, Amazon wants to come to NY, regardless. "This will be New York or it will be DC - Prof. Galloway, Feb 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3baKe4B3eyI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3baKe4B3eyI