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Seattle City Council Members Visit New York To Warn About Amazon HQ2 (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Two politicians from Amazon's hometown traveled across the country to New York to deliver a cautionary message about the company's expansion in the city. Members of the Seattle City Council, Lisa Herbold and Teresa Mosqueda, are urging elected officials in New York to pass legislation now that will address potential housing and transportation issues that will inevitably follow in the wake of Amazon's decision to build a major new campus in Queens. Both are speaking Monday at an event hosted by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which has been backing efforts to organize workers at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island.
Amazon announced in November a major expansion in Long Island City, New York, and Crystal City, Virginia. In New York, Amazon would spend about $2.5 billion to create an 8.5 million square foot campus on the East River waterfront facing Manhattan from Long Island City. In return, the internet giant is set to receive almost $3 billion worth of state and city incentives. While Amazon could generate more than $27.5 billion in additional tax revenue for the city over 25 years, local politicians and community activists have already come out against the deal. Opponents fear the high salaries promised by Amazon and influx of as many as 40,000 employees eventually will push out residents in one of the city's fastest growing neighborhoods, and lead to even more congestion in the already overburdened subway system.
Amazon announced in November a major expansion in Long Island City, New York, and Crystal City, Virginia. In New York, Amazon would spend about $2.5 billion to create an 8.5 million square foot campus on the East River waterfront facing Manhattan from Long Island City. In return, the internet giant is set to receive almost $3 billion worth of state and city incentives. While Amazon could generate more than $27.5 billion in additional tax revenue for the city over 25 years, local politicians and community activists have already come out against the deal. Opponents fear the high salaries promised by Amazon and influx of as many as 40,000 employees eventually will push out residents in one of the city's fastest growing neighborhoods, and lead to even more congestion in the already overburdened subway system.
Amazon won't be around in 25 Years.
NYC metro area is over 13,000 square miles (including suburbs). And most people live in huge skyscrapers that increase livable square footage. They have a total population over 24 million people. GDP p[er capita is over 84,000.
Seattle covers 142 sq miles. Most people live in buildings without elevators. The metro area covers 8,186 square miles, with most . Their total population is around 3.7 million.
Yes, Amazon is a big deal, single-handedly raising the wealth in a city that AFTER the job increase is only 1/7 the population. The upper class in Seattle is dominated by Amazon.
We will barely see them in NYC.
The idea that Amazon's 25,000 jobs will be more than a drop in the bucket for the Big Apple is a freaking joke.
It's like the captain of a 100 ft dinner cruise warning the captain of a cruise ship that those news passengers sure do eat a lot of food, and they better stock up on the steak.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
This isn't about warning NYC of the Evils of Amazon. This is about preventing Amazon from establishing a new HQ outside Seattle.
Because if Amazon did that, they'd be in a position to tell Seattle bye-bye....
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
Seattle city council is not in a position to give anyone advice about anything, outside of how to spread an opioid epidemic in their city.
if they don't handle this correctly, NY,NY could end up with one of the highest costs of living in the country.
Completely agree. We should also note that even before Amazon HQ2, Long Island City was far down the path of gentrification with rapidly rising white collar offices and luxury apartments. HQ2 merely cements a trend that has long been in progress and gives opponents of gentrification a clear, single target they can focus their wrath on in a last ditch attempt to slow the trend.
Only when them come in in the morning and leave in the evening. None of them will be able to afford to live in Manhattan.
That's probably a good thing, hopefully they'll live closer to LIC where the HQ will be... and which is not in Manhattan. No point in having 40,000 more people commute across the East River every day.
but will they even notice 40 000 additional workers in such a big city?
There will not be 40,000 additional workers. The workers will just be displaced from other businesses ... or potential business that will now never be created.
The constraint on business in NYC is availability of employees, and the constraint on new employees is housing cost, and the constraint on housing is the lack of new construction, and the constraint on new construction is the denial of most building permits.
This is why subsidies on the DEMAND side of employment, while simultaneously constricting the SUPPLY side of employment, is completely idiotic.
Voters need to be educated on basic economics so corrupt politicians that support these giveaways can be held to account.
"This isn’t about being anti-growth or anti-corporation. It’s about corporate accountability and shared responsibility," Mosqueda said in an interview with Bloomberg ahead of the event. "These companies do well because of our workforce and infrastructure, and they’ll continue to do well if they invest in that infrastructure."
So a town that Amazon is fleeing, excuse me, "avoiding" is telling their competition that the best way to invite new businesses is to wrap them in a cozy web of yet more new rules, policies, procedures, laws and regulations? Do they ever wonder why Amazon might be looking for new places to grow?
Mosqueda said New York must act now with new taxes to generate revenue that will be needed for affordable housing. She also cautioned against letting... gestures pass as being adequate to address complex and costly problems of housing and transportation.
So a city of less than one million, that is doing a notoriously bad job of managing their social problems, is busy telling a city of over eight million how to use socialism to manage the problem of having too many jobs?
Things are relative. For most of the US, just having a mass transit system is something that makes NYC notable. Most major cities, at best, might have a few bus routes, if that. I know where I live, Austin, there have been one upgrade in mass transit in the pass 20 years.... a single light rail train track, which doesn'teally go to places it is desparately needed (like the college campus.)
Even a gondola system similar to Rio would be nicer and more practical than what is in use in this city as of now.
Yeah, I know how bad it is. A week or two ago I rode a bus to the city near me for the first time in about 40 years. There are 2 early morning trips and 2 afternoon return trips. Good news, it was only $1 each way for a 25+ mile trip and there was plenty of space. The bad news was 1.5 (the other route was 2+) hours and up to 28 stops, which ended in a bus terminal about a mile from where I had an appointment.
There isn't any bus service on weekends. No subways, local trains, light rail or monorails available.
Ok. I live in Washington and I've watched the city of Seattle crap on itself (no really) over the years till they have the problems they've created. But what the heck is two CITY council members flying across the country on the cities dime doing in New York? YOU'RE A CITY COUNCIL MEMEBER! THAT'S IT! Try working on your own disaster of a city you've created (not Amazon or Microsoft or anyone else) and here is a clue: USE THE PHONE TO GIVE NEW YORK YOUR OPINION! Save the tax payer money instead of taking a New York vacation.
Maybe there actually scared because Seattle is only a couple pony town (Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon) and if they push Amazon will be out all that tax money people spend...... Naw, they're not that smart.
New York, feel free and absorb Amazon HQ2 and start sucking jobs from Seattle. It won't be hard when the Seattle city council thinks you're the causes of all the problems in Seattle. Wait, isn't the city council supposed to keep the city working right? Right.
Women had suffrage in NJ from 1776 to 1807.
Actually the EC was put in place to protect the small states from being overwhelmed by the large states. The small states as in New England (non slave states) : Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, etc. and the large states (slave states) being Virginia, Georgia, etc. Today, without the EC, the US would be completely dominated by the two coasts with the states in the middle, i.e.: the vast majority of them, having no say whatsoever.
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
Because right now, Seattle seems more like an abusive boyfriend stalking his ex and threatening anyone they start dating in hopes they'll have to come crawling back.