Giant Shark Invited to tank: We're to Be in the Amazon Reality Show

Giant Shark Invited to

Tank: We’re to Be Stars in the Amazon Reality Show

Op Ed by Patricia Dorfman

People with more secure futures seem more optimistic about the Amazon plan. No matter how big the waves get, they have more options. But those who worry about their own or other’s living or occupational fortunes, in view of Seattle, are worried.

NY City Council members who gave early support for the plan reject it now because they note that they, Community Boards and the public were not consulted on the terms of the biggest private company deal and incentive package in NYC history.

A giant shark Amazon surely is, already controlling 43% of all online sales, and expanding into cash-free, cashier-free bricks and mortar, faster than we can say, “We need a bigger boat.” Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post, Whole Foods and much more.

His being near Washington pols, NYC international contacts

and Wall Street, plus getting $3 billion in incentives will help him grow. The deal by the Mayor and Governor hinting at eminent domain, meaning the public has no say, could result in later expansion; say, a Sunnyside Yards land grab.

The Quinnipiac poll reporting 57% support from voters, released in advance of the fracas that was the December 12 City Council hearing, was at odds with CM Van Bramer, and with the opinion of second most powerful city official, Speaker Corey Johnson, “We’ve been played.”

Some are less worried. Sunnyside playwright Jeremy Kareken says, “I’m always concerned when big companies are awarded special treatment over smaller businesses, but an anchor tenant in LIC will bring more political pressure to bear so that the city and state can improve Western Queens infrastructure, long neglected. He continues, “PILOTS (payments in lieu of taxes) help ensure that funds paid by Amazon remain local. I would prefer all businesses get what Amazon is getting but I believe that on balance, HQ2 will be a net win for Queens.”

Many NYCHA residents who are not fans of the administration notice that a higher cost of living from the Amazon plan is close on the Mayor’s proposal to sell air and build on NYCHA land for $3 billion. They and many others who are renters would be surrounded by even wealthier people in high-rises and high rent retail. In the absence of the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, any chance for mom & pops to stay or start is unlikely.

the clout Amazon will have. Note how much power over NY Bezos has already in the wooing process, with our two top state officials bypassing the public and other electeds. If City Council has no power; we have no power.

If world dominance was not his goal, and just high profit was, Amazon would set up in cheaper regions and transform them into prosperity. Why does it matter where the headquarters are and why do they supposedly care about pleasing new hires? The basis of the key business is tech know-how around fast distribution of the cheapest products. With richer residents, a higher end dining and arts scene will spring up immediately anywhere, as it has in Seattle.

There does not seem to be an opportunity to create needed green space or build a new subway line, because nearby public land being sold to Amazon. There is plenty of room though, for instance, in Appalachia, where Amazon would be welcomed with open arms.

Living so near Amazon is not a plus. Would John Bank III, the real estate lobby chief, be pleased if the “Amazone” opened within two miles of him? Amazon is not a normal firm or anchor but giant organism which will run politics, society and business, increasingly as time goes on.

the way Bloomberg’s Westside Stadium was scuttled. But her rejecting Cuomo’s prize deal might be more than she is eager to do to start her term.

I pray that those who are in favor will imagine themselves into the reality ten years hence, where the magnitude of Amazon, a trillion-dollar shark, has transformed Queens into an environment favorable only to its own corporate needs. My hope is that Jeff Bezos sees our worry, and the growing lack of gratitude for the millions he will presumably pump into the economy, albeit mainly making the rich richer, and change his mind. ◆

Daniel Geiger in Crain’s noted that a way to democratically kill the deal is via efforts of NY State Senator Michael Gianaris who says he wants the deal “torn up and thrown in the garbage.” He is now #2 to soon-to-be Majority Leader Andrea Stewart- Cousins. She could pressure the fourperson Public Authorities Control Board to not approve the incentives,

I worry that the money earmarked for infrastructure or job creation once Amazon is here is unenforceable with