Thursday, February 14, 2019

Amazon Bails on New York City


New York’s idiot left flexed its muscles and showed off its strength. The result: Amazon just canceled its plan to build a new headquarters in New York City. There go Long Island City real estate values. And there go a lot of jobs and a lot of tax revenue.

From the Wall Street Journal:

The company said in a blog post Thursday that its commitment to a new headquarters required supportive elected officials and collaboration.

“While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City,” the company said.


5 comments:

Freddo said...

What was Amazon thinking/expecting in the first place? An insolvent city and state run by leftwing politicians, sounds like a great place to invest.

trigger warning said...

"[T]oday was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon’s corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world."
--- A Occasional-Cortex

It warms my heart when folks get what they voted for.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Ahhh... the logical outcome of anarchist social positions and free-market economics. Maybe now Amazon will try for D.C., Baltimore or Chicago, expecting a different result. Democrats are silly, Leftists are insane, and Anarchists are not of this world.

Gotta love AOC. What are non-Wall Street “everyday” New Yorkers going to do every day? She’s too silly and too stupid to engage in any Stage 2 thinking. Cause-and-effect aren’t her thing. And a hint or sneak preview for the Wall Streeters: financial modeling and spreadsheets can be automated, too. Sucks, huh?

More popcorn, please.

On a serious note, I suspect NYC may have dodged a bullet here. Generally, tax abatement deals are front-loaded in favor of corporate investment. With Amazon’s history of avaoiding corporate taxes — along with their monomaniacal commitment to automation, AI, drone delivery, etc. — they may never have paid taxes anyway. Nor would their “everyday” New York workers... because their wouldn’t be any.

I hope everyone is coming to realize Jeff Bezos is a weird dude. CEO Moonbeam, misanthrope and pervert photographer... for starters. As Glenn Greenwood points out, he wants a surveilliance state while protecting his own privacy. Kind of like all these tech emperors: Bezos, Schmidt, Cook, Zuckerberg, et al.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

In addition to Amazon and the 25,000 new jobs NYC passed on, looks like there are rising near- and long-term fiscal problems:

https://miami.cbslocal.com/2019/02/08/south-florida-luxury-condos-being-scooped-up-by-relocating-new-yorkers-looking-to-save-on-taxes/

People have options. Whodathunkit?

The only thing we all have to worry about is the diaspora of New York and California liberal thinking. Leftism is a highly-portable ideological fantasy.

For example, how about AOC — the Woman of the People — and her enhanced living standards:
https://freebeacon.com/politics/ocasio-cortez-living-in-luxury-navy-yard-apartment-building/

Dr. Schneiderman, when are you leaving NYC for sunnier climes?

UbuMaccabee said...

NYC got what they deserve--good and hard. this story makes me so happy at so many levels. Cuomo vs AOC vs de Blasio in public? OMG, yes. Fight, fight, fight. This was a good day for America, and a bad day for the leftists in New York. Even if the Amazon deal was bad for NY in the big picture (and I think exactly the opposite, I think it was a huge benefit to NY), the way the plug got pulled was a catastrophe for Cuomo, et al. This is an epic dumpster fire, and the rats are eating one another to get clear. I am so delighted when misfortune befalls evil men.

I support an active effort to break up Google--I know who they are and what they have in mind for us, and I despise them. I'm on the fence about Amazon, but it would not bother me in the least if Amazon was served with a fat antitrust lawsuit.

Amazon has built one of the most remarkable online entities in history, and they are a remarkable company; I use their service every day and have since its inception, but at this point, they are too powerful and their influence is out of proportion to their benefit. As they reach peak influence, that's when the benevolent mask comes off and we get peak leftism.

Bezos owns (and runs, contrary to his claims otherwise) a malevolent, dishonest newspaper so he can influence Washington and punish is opponents. He has done nothing to constrain the stink from the propaganda rag; in fact, it's gotten worse. That tells me who he really is.

And the love letters from his new mistress do not reveal a grown man; they show me a confused boy who thinks his money and power will get him love. Nope. They got him a costly divorce and a public spectacle--all for a tanking hottie who is about to hit the wall. Lady Susan Vernon is looking to make her last big jump up the ladder before her only remaining trump card expires. And this dummy fell for that obvious honeypot? What is the Vegas over/under on how many years it takes for "alive girl" to sleep with one of her ex's after Jeff weds her? I say 4 years tops. Nah, I'm being too kind, she's accustomed to NFL grade partners, I give her 2 years. Or, maybe she can bake her trist into the deal; Jeff strikes me as a watcher.