Stephon Johnson | 11/29/2018, 12:12 p.m.
Monday, anti-Amazon activists kept up the pressure on the corporate giant and elected officials.
Members of multiple pro-labor and pro-housing community groups linked up for a day of action against Amazon for what they call the #HQ2Scam. The demonstration against Amazon’s upcoming new headquarters in Long Island City included a protest at its Midtown Manhattan bookstore and an evening rally at Court Square Park in Queens.
Deborah Axt, co-director of Make the Road New York, said she’s pushing back against the corporate giant on a day when the company makes a lot of money to make a point.
Two weeks ago, New York State Gov. Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that Amazon would set up shop in Long Island City as its new headquarters. The corporate giant will temporarily occupy 500,000 square feet at One Court Square while constructing a 4 million square foot commercial space on Long Island City’s waterfront.
Amazon’s headquarters will allegedly create 1,300 direct construction jobs annually through 2033 and provide at least 25,000 new jobs by 2029 and up to 40,000 jobs by 2034. According to parties involved, the average salary for those jobs will be more than $150,000.
However, critics point to the drastic gentrification that will take place with Amazon’s presence and the amount of tax breaks Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos will receive.
According to Cuomo, New York State will benefit from the deal with more than $14 billion in tax revenue, and the city will get $13.5 billion in tax revenue. For its troubles, Amazon will get $1.5 billion in tax breaks and grants from New York. When speaking with Brian Lehrer recently, Cuomo said they were still working out the particulars of the deal.