United States: Amazon scraps plans to build New York HQ after pressure from local politicians (in brief)

Amazon will not build its second headquarters in New York City, the online retail giant has announced. The company had planned to build a complex in the Queens borough of the city, which would have created some 25,000 jobs over ten years, but has abandoned the project. In a statement Amazon says: “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.” The move represents a setback for New York’s state governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, with the two democrats having committed to offer $3 billion in tax breaks and other advantages to attract Amazon to the city. However once the construction of a headquarters in New York was announced, resistance emerged. Local politicians and residents expressed opposition, fearing a rise in property prices and the ‘gentrification’ of the surrounding area. Meanwhile the leaders of the Teamsters union and the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union, which represent employees in the retail sector, demanded concessions, calling for Amazon to open its doors to trade unions, given the $3 billion dollars of incentives it was to receive. However the online retail giant refused and abandoned its plans. The result was welcomed by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the recently-elected Congresswoman, who said: “A group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers [and] their neighbours defeated Amazon's corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world.”