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Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio are expected to meet Tuesday to announce that they have emerged victorious from a national competition aimed at attracting tens of thousands of Amazon jobs in New York.
But the big question people have is what they have offered society, in terms of tax subsidies and other benefits, and what New York City will get in return.
Amazon finally gave answers on Tuesday morning.
"Amazon will receive direct performance-based incentives of $ 1.525 billion based on the creation of 25,000 jobs in Long Island City," the company wrote in a blog officially announcing the operation, most of which came from 39, a state tax credit. "Amazon will receive these incentives over the next decade depending on the additional jobs created each year."
The state has also offered the company a capital grant of up to $ 500 million, used by Amazon for the construction of new offices.
And this will also apply to additional incentives through existing urban programs available to all businesses, Amazon said. Tax experts have said that these programs, intended for hiring workers in boroughs outside of Manhattan and for commercial development, could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.
For its part, the company announced that it "would give space on its campus for an incubator of technology start-ups and for use by artists and industrial companies" and for a new school, as well as for investments in infrastructure and green spaces. agreed to spend $ 5 million on training and internship programs and to participate in "job fairs and near Queensbridge Houses, the largest social housing complex in the country.
The ability of the governor and mayor to work together has been a key factor in persuading Amazon to set up offices in Long Island City, Queens, one of two sites that also includes the suburb of Crystal City, in the state. from Washington.
"We are delighted that Amazon has chosen New York City for its new headquarters," said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement with Amazon and Mr. Cuomo.
But as details emerge, many fear that the costs – in crowded metros, rising house prices and over-sewerage – can far outweigh the benefits of an estimated 25,000 new workers earning on average $ 100,000.
Some are already.
"We are getting calls and contacts from the people of Queens all day on this," said Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who will represent a neighboring Queens community. wrote on Twitter. "The response of the community? Outrage. "
Local politicians promised demonstrations.
Others, including local business and technology groups and former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, welcomed the deal.
"Amazon's decision to settle in Long Island City is an affirmation not only of NYC's growing technological talent," Bloomberg wrote on Twitter, "but also of all investments – in housing. , schools, parks, transportation and culture "made in Long Island City.
As part of a visit to New York this year, Amazon executives visited Cornell Tech's Roosevelt Island campus – an incubator of innovations and a legacy of Bloomberg's tenure – and returned to Long Island City with a new ferry system created by M. de Blasio.
But for Amazon's leaders, who may have anticipated local and vocal resistance, the biggest question seemed to be whether Mr. Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio could be heard.
The acrimony and mistrust between the two largest New York Democrats are so well known that until Amazon gave its impetus for the last time, the leaders met with the two leaders separately, according to one no one having direct knowledge of the gatherings, to see if they were present. same page.
The leaders of the Amazon came out of the meeting without the participation of the Director General, Jeff Bezos, convinced that Mr. Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio could work together on the project, said the person, what they had trouble to make social housing public transport until the final destiny of a lost deer.
After the meetings, documents began to circulate between Amazon and New York officials, said the person.
The 32-page agreement protocol, unveiled on Tuesday, was a three-way agreement between the city, the state, and the Seattle-based company, and outlined an ongoing process that would unfold. in the coming months, according to a statement. no one with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
Amazon will create a head office along the East River using plots combining private and public land around what is called the Anable Basin, according to the document. The company has promised to spend at least $ 2.5 billion on new offices, which would cover 4 million square feet with an option to double the size.
As part of this agreement, Amazon will also have significant space sooner, as it will lease up to 1 million square feet in the Citigroup Tower, which for years has been the first major office building in the world. Long Island City.
Two people were amazed by the level of cooperation between the Albany and New York teams when they handled Amazon and the relative secrecy in which they were held for about a year.
According to the 10 – year plan, approximately 3,000 employees could be hired in New York in the first two years, to reach more than 25,000 by 2028.
But the agreement, concluded behind closed doors and until now without local intervention, has angered officials. Part of the reason is that, according to the outline of the plan, the state and the city will bypass the veto of the city council, which has the power to block the rezoning and land use measures. Instead, they will use a level process previously used for large-scale development projects such as Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn.
"We are going to mobilize, protest and say that democracy is alive and well in Queens, New York and New York," said Long Island City City Council member Jimmy Van Bramer. "It's unacceptable and we will fight."
Their ability to block the measure is uncertain, acknowledged Van Bramer. But, he added, "we do not give up."
Van Bramer and state senator Michael Gianaris, another strong Democratic spokesman for Amazon's Amazon deal, have not been against the idea. In October 2017, they signed a letter, along with the president of the Queens Borough and other elected leaders, pleading for the company to settle in Long Island City.
Asked about Monday's letter, MM. Van Bramer and Gianaris said that they welcome jobs but have opposed hundreds of millions of tax breaks for the company.
"I salute the jobs if it means an investment of Amazon in L.I.C. without having to pay a ransom for their presence, "said Gianaris.
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