Amazon announced today that it is cancelling its plans to build a campus in New York for 2.5 billion dollars (2.2 billion euros). The technology giant does this after strong criticism from local politicians and trade union leaders. They had been criticizing the plans since the project was announced in November.
One of the biggest problems for politicians and trade unionists was the fact that Amazon would receive a large subsidy in exchange for choosing New York. The company would receive over several years spread over more than 1.7 billion dollars in subsidy. According to some local leaders, this could cause problems for local residents.
Too many people
Amazon expected to be able to accommodate 25,000 employees in Long Island City, the former industrial area in Queens where the campus would be located. The average salary of those 25,000 people: $150,000 a year. The concern was that the presence of these people would drive up the prices of the housing market and would have a major impact on public transport, which suddenly had to cope with a lot of extra people.
This public debate made it difficult for Amazon to obtain all permissions to proceed with the project. The company assumed that this would not happen until 2020 at the earliest. But that’s not enough, so Amazon is now putting an end to the plans. In a statement, the company writes:
For Amazon, the dedication to building a new headquarters requires a positive, collaborative relationship with the state and locally elected representatives, who also provide long-term support. For activists, it’s a reason to celebrate. For example, SiliconAngle states that certain activists argue that ordinary people stopped an extraordinary action against Amazon’s plan to use billions in public money.
The decision not to come to New York can have a major impact on the city, which may lose several tens of thousands of jobs as a result. At the same time, there is a good chance that Amazon’s presence in New York will attract more people.
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.
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