FEBRUARY 14, 2019
Amazon said Thursday it will not move forward with plans to build a headquarters in New York after rising opposition from local politicians.
The company said it will not reopen the search process “at this time. We will proceed as planned in Northern Virginia and Nashville, and we will continue to hire and grow across our 17 corporate offices and tech hubs in the U.S. and Canada.”
The company had begun considering alternatives last week. The online retailer has not yet acquired any land for the project, which would make it easy to scrap its plans, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday.
Amazon had announced it would create 25,000 jobs and build one of two new headquarters based in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, just across the East River from Manhattan.
The proposal ran into opposition from local politicians who opposed the $2.8-billion in incentives promised to Amazon in a deal secretly negotiated by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The company said, “for Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term.”
Courtesy/Source: Reuters
