[NYguy]

Stayed away from the Amazon discussion, but since it seems likely one of the headquarters is coming to LIC...


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/05/t...?module=inline

Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 in Two Locations

By Karen Weise and J. David Goodman
Nov. 5, 2018

The company is nearing a deal to move to the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, according to two of the people briefed on the discussions. Amazon is also close to a deal to move to the Crystal City area of Arlington, Va., a Washington suburb, one of the people said. Amazon already has more employees in those two areas than anywhere else outside of Seattle, its home base, and the Bay Area.

Amazon executives met two weeks ago with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in the governor’s Manhattan office, said one of the people briefed on the process, adding that the state had offered potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies. Executives met separately with Mayor Bill de Blasio, a person briefed on that discussion said. Long Island City is a short subway ride across the East River from Midtown Manhattan.

To meet its own deadlines, Amazon will need to move fast. It had said it wanted 500,000 square feet of office space — enough for thousands of employees — available for use next year.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/05/n...e=sectionfront

Amazon’s HQ2? Make That Q for Queens

By J. David Goodman
Nov. 5, 2018

New York City last week announced $180 million in new spending on Long Island City to bolster transit, fix the sewer system and attract new, good-paying jobs. Now it appears that spending was, in part, deliberately timed.

Amazon is nearing a deal to name Long Island City, a fast-growing neighborhood on the western edge of Queens, as one of two locations that would together house as many as 50,000 employees in its ever-expanding work force, according to two people briefed on the negotiations.

The arrival of Amazon in Long Island City could finally establish New York as a technology hub on par with its West Coast rivals. But some residents worry about the effects of so many newcomers on the neighborhood of gleaming apartment towers and low-rise manufacturing that is already straining from rapid growth.

The neighborhood has seen a swift rise in new building that began with a single high-rise office tower, opened in 1990 and belonging to Citigroup. If the name Long Island City once seemed aspirational, in recent years it has been more descriptive: Apartment towers now dot the skyline, crowding around the elevated No. 7 subway train.

There have been 41 new apartment buildings built there since 2010, according to an analysis by the city. Last year, more new apartments were built in Long Island City than in any other neighborhood in New York. The reasons, in large measure, are its proximity to Manhattan, its relatively low cost and the views.

The proposed locations of any Amazon buildings within the neighborhood were not clear.

A person briefed on the discussions said city officials took Amazon executives looking for a new headquarters, known as HQ2, around the area three times, in April, July and September. In one instance, the person said, they toured on Citi Bikes, the local bike-share program; in another, they took a sunset ride on one of the city’s new fast ferries.

All the building — and the new residents who come with it — has put pressure on the area’s infrastructure. New schools are needed, according to the city, and the subways are packed.

“The 7 train is overloaded today, and we can’t sell Long Island City as being transportation rich,” Mr. Van Bramer said, sounding a note of caution. “The people who work at Amazon are going to be competing for space on that train.”

It was not clear whether the discussions with Amazon included promises to improve or expand transit options. The office of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo declined to comment on the company’s plans, which have yet to be formally announced. A spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio also declined to comment. Mr. Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio met separately with Amazon executives late last month, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

But the city’s new spending plan, released last Tuesday, included one possibility for increasing transportation options that could involve a new train stop in the heart of the area.

“Work with M.T.A./L.I.R.R. and Amtrak to study the feasibility of creating a new rail station in Sunnyside Yard at Queens Boulevard,” read the city’s plan, referring to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Long Island Rail Road, both of which use space in nearby rail yards.