November 13, 2018. This article discusses Amazon’s interest to possibly split “HQ2” between Long Island City, New York and Arlington, Virginia and the Governor’s incentive package with potentially million dollars of subsidies that has not been shared with the public. The author goes on to discuss that many critics, including the Fiscal Policy Institute, do not think that Amazon should get subsidies because they are unfair and that there should be increased transparency.
Amazon’s search for a location for its next main office may be coming to an end soon, as the company has reportedly decided to split its “HQ2” between Long Island City in Queens and Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia.
On Monday, The New York Times reportedthat the deal Cuomo offered Amazon could potentially include hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies. Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio met separately with Amazon executives and the governor publicly touted his “great incentive package.”
“The way that it would make sense to attract a company like (Amazon) is by improving on (the city’s attributes), not by making some kind of special deal so that one company gets a better tax rate than others, or that one company is somehow prioritized over others,” said David Kallick, a senior fellow at the Fiscal Policy Institute. “Too few politicians are willing to stand up and say, ‘I believe in our city and state, and think that we can win this based simply on the quality of the location as a place to be expanding.’”
Here is the link to City & State New York.