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As apparently all New Yorkers, Adrianne Santiago was eager to take into account Amazon's decision to give up its plans to build a large campus in Queens and create more than 25,000 jobs.
To Santiago, 33, who lives in Brooklyn, the politicians presented the agreement as a fait accompli to New Yorkers and offered no opportunity for the public to express themselves – a mediocre way of trying to tip a city where people like to make their point of view known.
"They took the opportunity for us to really express our opinion," she said Friday. "As New Yorkers, we talk a lot – we like to say how we feel."
Soon Kim, 60, owner of a stationery store, was sorry to see the contract collapse in a neighborhood close to the one where Amazon would have settled in Queens.
"Two or three times a week, young people ask me if I have a job," Ms. Kim said. "I can not afford to pay for jobs." Amazon, would it have created jobs for young people, "she added.
The day after Amazon's announcement of its withdrawal rocked New York City, New Yorkers were forced to deconstruct what was wrong.
In many ways, the deal had become a litmus test for the future of their city and whether officials were to offer nearly $ 3 billion in public subsidies to a corporate giant who promised to transform New York, but also had the reputation of treating local citizens. communities with a heavy hand.
On the other hand, Amazon's supporters denounced the critics of the deal, saying the leftist agitators wanted to torpedo a major investment in the city's economy, which would have generated billions of tax revenues and significantly strengthened the profile of New York as a major technological hub.
Beyond the policy of the agreement, the number of jobs created by Amazon and the benefits it would get, the contract raised thorny questions about the future of the city.
Would Amazon's arrival in a booming Long Island city only favor the gentrification that has already settled there and help drive the working class out of the city?
And if the arrival of Amazon was a huge economic boost, was it fair to allow a sprawling campus in an area with limited infrastructure and overcrowded metros, even though the company was providing little detail about the amenities for nearby housing projects and others would be its neighbors?
Ilya Usorov, 27, said that he thought the deal had finally failed because New Yorkers could not unite behind to overcome the growing backlash that reigned after Amazon. said in November that he was going to arrive.
"I have the impression that all of New York has never been on board," said Mr. Usorov, who works for a start-up specializing in business media, a floor above an Amazon store in SoHo. "There was a contingent that was for, then a contingent that was against."
And while almost all of the respondents said they were Amazon customers, their satisfaction with the ease and speed with which they can get everything from shampoos to heaters does not necessarily mean they are willing to support voracious extension of society in their city.
"Somewhere down the line, we have to think about the little man," said Althea Hudson, 59, who works at the New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn.
Ethan Worrel, 44, of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, said the city did not need Amazon to continue to flourish.
"New York will be fine" without Amazon moving here, he said, adding that even though he was ordering items for Amazon Prime for his kids, he viewed the company as an "oligopoly".
"There should be a more altruistic concept of these companies like Amazon, joining the community and gaining loyalty rather than" punch my ticket, "said Mr. Worrel, who runs an Internet design company.
Usorov said technology companies were already developing in New York without any benefit.
"Google and Apple have just expanded their offices," he said. "And they did it quietly, without any help. It just seems that Amazon also wanted a little more than its fair share while all the others were still doing it at the old. "
Mrs. Hudson said the deal was half cooked and that it could have increased congestion on the subway and increased rents.
"I do not think they really thought about it," she said. elected officials who worked on the transaction. "I think it was a question of money, and money does not solve all the problems."
Sam Musovic, who lives in Long Island City, helped organize a rally in front of an Amazon store to protest the company's decision to cancel the deal.
He stated that he was expecting an influx of new residents when Amazon moved in and that he had borrowed money to invest in the building and restaurant that he own in the neighborhood. "And now, I'm stuck with the addition," he lamented.
Musovic said the city had done everything possible to accommodate Amazon. "But if New York is not good enough for you, then we should not possibly buy your products," he said about Amazon. "This is not good for your brand, and it's not good for New York."
Even when Amazon canceled the transaction, some store owners said they had already experienced an Amazon effect: the online retailer siphoned off a large portion of its sales.
Thirty-year-old Mia Lin, who works at Sunny Baby Grocery Corp., a discount store in Woodside, Queens, said many of her customers were looking at her prices and buying the product on Amazon.
"They were going to see that a backpack was $ 15," she said. "They say they can pay $ 10 on Amazon for the same backpack. And they leave.
In Brooklyn, Goldwyn Blanton, a 31-year-old fitness model, said he thought the Amazon deal had probably fallen under the political feud that often costs the price of business in New York.
"That kind of friction probably contributed to their withdrawal," he said. "It's bad news because it would have created a lot of professions, so we're losing."
Like Mr. Blanton, who said he was buying "the majority of my business" at Amazon, Mr. Usorov said that he would continue to use Amazon to order batteries and other items in the coming days.
"I mean, you have to, no?", Said Mr. Usorov.
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