I see comments bringing up comparisons between Amazon and other NYC employers who are not asking for- or getting a tax break. But I think that comparison doesn'

I see comments bringing up comparisons between Amazon and other NYC employers who are not asking for- or getting a tax break. But I think that comparison doesn't mean much on its own... The deal with Amazon is independent of what decisions other companies make. Other companies may have different circumstances - with respect to financials (e.g. profit margins), growth prospects, etc. Or maybe they are just bad at negotiating. But either way, all the government has to do is evaluate the incremental tradeoffs associated with making _this_ deal - is it a net benefit or not? And both parties (NY or Amazon) can make their evaluations and accept or decline accordingly. Most negotiations take place with imperfect information and involve complex assessments of the risks and tradeoffs of accepting/declining any deal. In this case, the projected 9:1 ROI on the subsidies was too good to pass up and public leaders made a decision that is probably correct. I think the general public understanding of these subsidies is also very limited, and the vocal minorities that have ruled the airwaves on this issue have painted a false picture of how the subsidies are structured. https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-and-mayor-de-blasio-announce-amazon-selects-long-island-city-new-corporate https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-and-mayor-de... First, note that $1.2B of the $1.7B of state benefits in this deal are from the _existing_ Excelsior program. Numerous other employers are eligible to apply. See details of program at https://esd.ny.gov/excelsior-jobs-program https://esd.ny.gov/excelsior-jobs-program Many other companies have utilized this program. Take a look at this subsidy tracker: https://projects.propublica.org/subsidies/programs/excelsior-jobs-program https://projects.propublica.org/subsidies/programs/excelsior... Note that other parts of the Amazon HQ2 deal in NY are also pre-existing: > Under pre-existing as-of-right programs authorized by law, Amazon is eligible for a partial property tax abatement through ICAP and an annual credit of $3,000 for twelve years per eligible employee under REAP, a program available to all companies to encourage job growth outside of Manhattan. REAP benefits for Amazon's 10-year expansion are projected at $897 million through 2038, and ICAP will abate approximately $386 million. Chances are, Google and Facebook and others are also going to take advantage of all these generally-available programs. As far as I can tell, the $505M capital grant from the state is the only Amazon-specific part of the deal.