Brooklyn, NY – Amazon has announced that New York City's neighborhood, Long Island City, will be the designation for their second headquarters, sharing the title with Crystal City in Virginia. There has been much controversy surrounding this decision, even with the billion-dollar giant agreeing to bring jobs and opportunities. The issue is not in Amazon's existence in the city but the fact that Governor Andrew Cuomo made a deal, giving the already prosperous online behemoth a $1.5 billion tax credit, with no discussions with and/or input from New York officials and community stakeholders before the deal was struck.

"Although the intention of choosing our city was to bring economic opportunities, as a public official and as a New Yorker, I would have liked a healthy dialogue between us and Amazon of the effects that such a development will have on New York City," says Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte. "Going forward, we are demanding a level of transparency and a plan for greater economic equity and inclusion. I am willing to sit down with Amazon to discuss and ensure that there are community benefit agreements, initiatives for diversity in leadership positions, and plans for preservation for worker's rights.

Amazon has claimed in its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that it will offer the city a number of programs in return for tax credit subsidies. Notably, it includes $180 million in funding for infrastructure improvements, which is said to entail transportation.¹Â This is undoubtedly for the subways systems, buses, and the general area surrounding Long Island City that will be strained with the influx of commuters. However, it can't be said for sure whether these agendas will be met. On top of the uncertainty, there are a myriad of other issues that aren't addressed in Amazon's MOU. 

Protecting small businesses is a struggle that Amazon's presence in our city is going to make more difficult. It is imperative that we keep these businesses alive because they keep our city diverse and innovative. Discourse could lead to small loans, grants and other services for these small businesses, allowing them to remain competitive and sustainable.

While inclusion for Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses (MWBEs) is partially accounted for in the MOU, we want to ensure that there's a 30% commitment goal of government contracts awarded to MWBEs in line with the State's MWBE goal. Also, positions of leadership within Amazon HQ2 should be available to minorities and women. Amazon currently has only 25% of its leadership positions occupied by women²Â and only 26% of non-white minorities in these positions³. We are hoping that Amazon's new headquarters will be representative of the population of New York City, which is at least 60% minorities and women⁴.

Affordable housing is another issue that will intensify after building a new Amazon headquarters. New York residents are facing increasing rent prices. It is reported that Amazon HQ2 in Long Island City will likely not bring any significant increase in rent. However, it is important to note that after Amazon established itself in Seattle, the median rental prices shot up by 41%, hastening the affordable housing crisis there.⁵ These effects could have been tempered if we were allowed to have a dialogue with Amazon. In addition, initiatives could have been put in place to subsidize NYCHA and other housing agencies.

We've seen what happens when measures are not taken before making major additions to our city, such as Barclays in the 2010s, MetroTech in the 1990s, and Lefrak in the 1970s. The affects of the Long Island City's designation by Amazon may be detrimental now that they have not been tempered by a preceding conversation about the lives this will affect. We hope that we can have further discussion with Governor Cuomo and Amazon about this deal and how to maximize equity for the city and for New Yorkers.

The questions remain, was it necessary to giveaway billions of tax subsidies? And are they really creating 25,000 jobs?"

Sources

1. Amazon's MOU - Long Island City Development Project
2. Business Insider - Women Still Make Up A Minority of Leadership Positions at the Biggest Tech Company
3. Harvard Business Review: What Amazon’s Board Was Getting Wrong About Diversity and Hiring
4. United States Census Bureau - Decennial Census 2010
5. Prime Markup: How Much Would Amazon HQ2 Drive Up Rents

Related Articles

1. Queens Lawmakers on the Move