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I was a little puzzled how Ithaca would factor in (~4 hours away) but apparently there's a satellite "Cornell Tech" campus on Roosevelt Island. Clearly the loc

I was a little puzzled how Ithaca would factor in (~4 hours away) but apparently there's a satellite "Cornell Tech" campus on Roosevelt Island. Clearly the local talent available helps when factoring where to locate, but I can't help but cynically think that this story is a retcon to distract from the public subsidies. It's telling that there's no quote from any Amazon employee that substantiates the headline's claim.

chairmanwow 8y ago
This is actually a really good point. After reading your comment I can’t help but think that this is a purchased article from someone with an agenda.
ghaff 8y ago
I agree with your general cynicism :-) Cornell Tech was established a few years back as an interdisciplinary grad school on Roosevelt Island that brings together a lot of STEM disciplines (as well as business. Cornell Med School is also in NYC. It's an increasingly common pattern; see MIT's recent announcement of an AI school. Stanford tried pretty hard to get this campus but, among other things, it's probably fair to say that there was a pretty heavy thumb on the scales in Cornell's favor given that it's a significant university in New York state.
- Alex3917 8y ago
  Stanford dropped out before submitting their bid because Cornell got a big donation that Stanford wasn't able to match. Stanford was actually the clear favorite before that happened.
  - zamfi 8y ago
    Yes -- that big donation was exactly the thumb GP is talking about. :) It came from / was organized by Bloomberg, who seems to have had a strong preference for a NY school. But there were also other reasons Stanford withdrew, including the weirdness of how real estate works in NYC.
    - Alex3917 8y ago
      Ahh that makes sense. Yeah Cornell is fairly incompetent to begin with and they were really doing everything possible to sabotage their own bid, including trying to sue people for promoting their bid on social media, so winning wouldn't have even been a possibility without substantial external help.
    - chimeracoder 8y ago
      > Yes -- that big donation was exactly the thumb GP is talking about. :) It came from / was organized by Bloomberg, who seems to have had a strong preference for a NY school. First, Bloomberg himself didn't choose the winner; he was detached from the competitive process. Bloomberg launched the competition and also later donated money to the winner (Cornell), but those were separate events. Second, Bloomberg himself appeared in a promotional video that was campaigning for Stanford. I don't know where the idea that Bloomberg had a strong preference for an upstate NY school comes from (especially since the other finalist - Columbia University - was already based in New York City).
      - zamfi 8y ago
        Rumors and idle speculation of course. As mayor, Bloomberg would have had to keep his opinion obscured anyway...

chairmanwow 8y ago

This is actually a really good point. After reading your comment I can’t help but think that this is a purchased article from someone with an agenda.

ghaff 8y ago

I agree with your general cynicism :-) Cornell Tech was established a few years back as an interdisciplinary grad school on Roosevelt Island that brings together a lot of STEM disciplines (as well as business. Cornell Med School is also in NYC. It's an increasingly common pattern; see MIT's recent announcement of an AI school. Stanford tried pretty hard to get this campus but, among other things, it's probably fair to say that there was a pretty heavy thumb on the scales in Cornell's favor given that it's a significant university in New York state.

Alex3917 8y ago
Stanford dropped out before submitting their bid because Cornell got a big donation that Stanford wasn't able to match. Stanford was actually the clear favorite before that happened.
- zamfi 8y ago
  Yes -- that big donation was exactly the thumb GP is talking about. :) It came from / was organized by Bloomberg, who seems to have had a strong preference for a NY school. But there were also other reasons Stanford withdrew, including the weirdness of how real estate works in NYC.
  - Alex3917 8y ago
    Ahh that makes sense. Yeah Cornell is fairly incompetent to begin with and they were really doing everything possible to sabotage their own bid, including trying to sue people for promoting their bid on social media, so winning wouldn't have even been a possibility without substantial external help.
  - chimeracoder 8y ago
    > Yes -- that big donation was exactly the thumb GP is talking about. :) It came from / was organized by Bloomberg, who seems to have had a strong preference for a NY school. First, Bloomberg himself didn't choose the winner; he was detached from the competitive process. Bloomberg launched the competition and also later donated money to the winner (Cornell), but those were separate events. Second, Bloomberg himself appeared in a promotional video that was campaigning for Stanford. I don't know where the idea that Bloomberg had a strong preference for an upstate NY school comes from (especially since the other finalist - Columbia University - was already based in New York City).
    - zamfi 8y ago
      Rumors and idle speculation of course. As mayor, Bloomberg would have had to keep his opinion obscured anyway...