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Amazon is proud to know what consumers want, often before they know each other. But when it comes to the Queens district of New York, Michael Gianaris is convinced that he knows more than the tech giant.
Mr. Gianaris, a child of Greek immigrants, spent most of his life in the borough Astoria district. He was born there and attended his public schools. The only appreciable period he spent abroad was at Harvard Law School – although he returned shortly after graduation and entered local politics.
"I feel I know this neighborhood better than anyone," said Gianaris. "I walk in these streets. I live here. Others do not do it. "
This indigenous knowledge could explain why Mr. Gianaris, now a Democratic senator, has been so effective in fighting Amazon's plan to build a satellite seat in Long Island City, Queens.
Amazon announced plans in November after a comprehensive national competition in which hundreds of cities were competing for the technology giant. Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic governor who led Amazon's recruitment, celebrated the victory as the city's biggest economic development victory. The company is committed to creating 25,000 well-paying jobs over 10 years.
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Rather than celebrate, Mr. Gianaris began to question the cost of Amazon's lure: about $ 3 billion in tax incentives that he and others Opponents have compared the well-being of businesses at a time when neighborhood schools and transit systems are under severe strain.
"The fact that Amazon is getting $ 3 billion and the governor has identified a $ 2.6 billion budget deficit does not require mathematical engineering to understand the connection between them," said Mr. Gianaris.
Such resistance once seemed chimerical. But last week, the Democratic delegation broke with Mr. Cuomo to appoint Mr. Gianaris to a three-member review panel, giving him a veto over the deal. Mr. Gianaris then proposed legislation that would limit certain tax benefits for society.
Soon, it was revealed that Amazon had doubts about Queens. The leaders were upset by the local hostility they encountered, which they had not anticipated and which contrasted sharply with the loving embrace they had received in Virginia, the location they chose for another satellite headquarters.
According to a person informed of Amazon's deliberations, they are particularly concerned about demands to allow New York workers to unionize – something the company has refused elsewhere.
"Amazon is a non-union company and did not realize it should change in New York," said the person.
If she decided so, Amazon could easily crumble: she did not sign a lease or broke the ground on the new campus. Another suitor, near Newark, New Jersey, offered $ 7 billion in tax incentives.
Disconcerted Cuomo collaborators initially badumed that Mr. Gianaris and other local politicians were simply hurt from being sidelined. As we have seen, politicians still oppose bargains behind the scenes when they are not in the room. After a few prestigious positions, they would end up waiting in line.
But unlike other critics, Gianaris has so far refused to hold a meeting with Amazon executives to discuss the deal, demanding it be canceled.
"Gianaris has outstripped Cuomo," commented a New York property manager, even though it was still early.
Like other observers, the executive felt that Mr. Gianaris was trying to appeal to a small but active minority of leftist activists in the hope of raising the challenge of the party's progressive wing led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The 29-year-old shocked the Democratic establishment by beating outgoing President Joe Crowley in the primaries last year to represent parts of Queens and the Bronx in Congress. "AOC is the ruler of Queens, not Joe Crowley," said a Cuomo badistant.
Cuomo seemed to have that in mind on Friday when he accused opponents of "plotting" marginal activists and "government faults" and warned that they would suffer the consequences if Amazon withdrew.
Mr. Gianaris seemed more disconcerted than upset, urging the governor to "stop making tantrums and focus on the fact that he is making a secret deal that is bad for New York."
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His case was helped by the fact that Google and Facebook have each added thousands of jobs in New York over the last few months with little fanfare or special tax breaks – something even Michael Bloomberg, the former billionaire mayor, pointed out. The real attraction was the technological talent of the city.
Gianaris and Cuomo have a story: Mr. Gianaris worked for Mr. Cuomo's father, Mario, as the governor's liaison with Queens at the time. Although they have known each other for years, they are not particularly close.
At one point, Mr. Gianaris had been mentioned as a possible successor to Eliot Spitzer as Attorney General of New York – although this position was instead attributed to Mr. Cuomo while he was going to the governor's mansion.
Mr. Gianaris remained in the very Greek part of Queens in which his father, Nicholas, emigrated in 1961. He came from Kalavryta, a Greek city in the Peloponnese which was the scene of a 1943 Nazi mbadacre. In retaliation for the attacks of the Greek guerrillas, the Germans rallied and shot more than a thousand inhabitants and set fire to villages. "My father was a young boy at the time," said Gianaris.
After arriving in New York as a graduate student, Mr. Gianaris, who became an elder, became a professor of statistics at Fordham University in New York, where his son would excel before continuing his studies at Harvard.
"He went to law school. He left. He did not have to come back, but he did, "said Kimberly Mullarkey, 38, a member of the third generation Astorian, a member of the local Taminent Regular democratic club.
Ms. Mullarkey was impressed by the way Mr. Gianaris chose Con Edison after Queens was hit by a dreadful 17-day power outage in 2006. "He's a fighter. He is ready to face the big players, "she said.
Amazon's problem was more complicated, allowed Ms. Mullarkey. Although she is hardly a democratic socialist in Ms. Ocasio-Cortez's mold, she expressed doubts about the company, both in the secret way in which her agreement was negotiated and that her arrival could mean for family shops still in vogue. the fabric of the neighborhood.
"It's a difficult decision," she said, adding, "I do not think [Mayor Bill] De Blasio understands this neighborhood. I do not think the governor does it either. "
Amazon and its sponsors are always hopeful. A recent survey she commissioned showed that more than 70 percent of Queens residents supported her plans. Over time, they believe that the rhetoric surrounding the society will diminish and that residents will be able to conduct an unbiased review of the numbers.
According to Cuomo, the tax incentives of $ 3 billion will be more than offset by projected tax revenue of some $ 27 billion. In addition, these incentives only accrue if Amazon invests. "No company creates more than 25,000 jobs!" Cuomo reminded New Yorkers on Friday. "They do not exist. I spend days trying to create a company that has one hundred or two hundred jobs. "
But Mr. Gianaris, living among his constituents, is convinced he knows he knows better. "Amazon or the governor will realize that this agreement is a non-beginner," he predicted.
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