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While millions of customers were looking for Cyber Monday offers online, New York activists rallied against the decision of the internet giant, Amazon, to install one of its two "HQ2" offices in Long Island City, Queens.
Activists have occupied an Amazon Books
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brick and mortar store located near Herald Square in Manhattan for about half an hour starting at 12:30 pm. Dozens of protesters, many of whom carried placards and cardboard boxes similar to those on Amazon's packaging, gave speeches and chanted slogans, including "No Penny to Amazon" in the store before continuing the campaign. demonstration outside, on the sidewalk.
Community groups plan to hold a second larger rally on Monday night at Court Square Park in Long Island City, a few blocks from where Amazon's HQ will be built. More than 3,000 people said on Facebook
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if they are interested in participating in the subsequent event, which will include a walk followed by a rally.
Both events were organized by some 20 community groups, including local unions and non-profit organizations working on behalf of immigrants. And the timing of the events is not a coincidence: the organizers said they hoped that the events held during Cyber Monday would better inform the public about what they considered the potentially harmful effects of Amazon HQ2 and to generate greater interest from local politicians and states.
Read more: What does Amazon's QG2 mean for housing prices?
"Cyber Monday is a big day for Amazon, and coming from Amazon in Queens is a big problem for New Yorkers," said Charles Khan, organizer of the Strong Economy Coalition and the Center for Popular Democracy, at MarketWatch following the protest against Herald Square. "It's a $ 1 trillion company run by the richest man in the world, they do not need help from taxpayers to come to New York."
Jacob Passy
Many protesters worried about the effects that Amazon's Long Island City offices could have on affordable housing in Queens. In particular, some fear that relatively low housing prices in nearby neighborhoods such as Woodside and Jackson Heights may not attract new Amazon employees and lead to gentrification and rising rents.
The organizers are particularly concerned about the large population of newly arrived low-income immigrants in Queens. They fear being expelled by the newest and wealthiest residents. The researchers estimated that Amazon's QG2 could push up to 800 people to find themselves homeless in New York and northern Virginia. (Amazon has not responded to a request for comment.)
"We are determined to block this deal," said Deborah Axt, executive co-director of Make the Road New York, a non-profit organization that promotes community building and pro-immigrant and working-class politics. "We have no interest in reliving what they live in Seattle."
In addition, activists have expressed concern over more than $ 3 billion in grants that the state and New York City officials have pledged to Amazon to attract to New York. Legislators 'arguments that Amazon HQ2 would increase state tax revenues were of little weight, including Maritza Silva-Farrell, executive director of ALIGN, a non-profit organization focused on workers' rights economic equality. "It's like traditional economic spinoffs that we know do not work," she said. "These are subsidies that people would prefer to use for education and transportation."
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