UPDATE:
Amazon will not build a new headquarters in New York City. It is a stunning reversal to an ambitious plan that would have brought an estimated 25,000 jobs to the city.
The online retailer faced fierce opposition from some New York politicians and community groups who were unhappy with the nearly $3 billion in tax incentives Amazon was promised. Along with thousands of jobs, the Seattle company had planned to spend $2.5 billion building its new offices.
"We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion — we love New York," the company said in a blog post , adding that it already has 5,000 employees in the city and plans to grow those teams.
It was a serious blow to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, who lobbied intensely to land the campus within city limits.
Critics see the project as an extravagant giveaway to one of the world's biggest companies and argue it won't provide much direct benefit to most New Yorkers.
"Our members and allies stood firm against Governor Cuomo's plan to give away more than $3 billion in taxpayer giveaways so that Amazon could force its empire-building on our neighborhoods," said Deborah Axt, co-executive director of the anti-poverty group Make the Road New York.
Amazon said Thursday it does not plan to look for another location at this time, and will continue with plans to build offices in Arlington, Virginia, and Nashville, Tennessee. The Arlington campus was expected to be the same size as the New York one, with 25,000 employees. The Nashville office is expected to have 5,000 employees.
PREVIOUS REPORT:
Last fall, Amazon announced that it was seeking a city near the American East Coast to become the home of its second headquarters. The online retailing giant had grown too big for its massive Seattle, Washington, complex. So major cities in the east scrambled to appeal to the corporation that could infuse their communities with cash, resources, and jobs. (See Amazon Looks To Double Up.)
Amazon has made its decision. It must have been a tough one to narrow down, because the company chose not one but two new sites for its operations. Amazon announced Tuesday that it will split the headquarters between Long Island City in the borough of Queens, New York, and Crystal City of Arlington County in northern Virginia. Both have riverfront stretches in major metropolitan areas. Both offer ample transportation and housing for workers.
Crystal City sits within eyeshot of the nation’s capital. Once the home of the Defense Department and the Department of Patents and Trademarks, Crystal City now hungers for new economic opportunity. When those two government offices relocated, more than 20,000 federal jobs left the area. That negatively impacted the businesses that remained.
Rapidly growing Long Island City is an old manufacturing area that is being reinvented as a hub for 21st-century industry, creativity, and urbane (cultured and sophisticated) living. In recent years, New York has tried to up its identity as a potential technology hotspot. Housing to draw young professionals has sprung up in the form of modern and trendy homes, apartments, and lofts—both new and converted from industrial and office spaces. This readies the area to receive an influx of new hires that a business the size of Amazon would draw.
In Jeremiah 29, God instructed His people to make a home and participate in the economy of the city into which they had been exiled. He said they would be seeking the welfare (the good) of the city—which would prosper them as well. Proverbs 11:10 also notes that “When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices.” (NIV) Ample opportunity for work is a “common grace” from God. It blesses believers and unbelievers alike—a provision from God to support His gift of human existence.
Amazon will keep its main office in Seattle. It currently has more than 40,000 employees there. The company says the expansion will bring approximately 25,000 jobs to New York and another 25,000 to Virginia. Additionally, there are plans to open an operations hub in Nashville, Tennessee. That could create another 5,000 jobs.
(The Manhattan skyline is seen on the horizon from a vantage point in Long Island City, Queens, New York. Long Island City was the New York site where Amazon planned to build. AP Photo)
