[NYguy]

Well, maybe they are looking at one of the waterfront sites...


https://www.politico.com/states/new-...-queens-685121

Waterfront Plaxall property in Amazon's sights as e-commerce giant eyes new home in Queens

By SALLY GOLDENBERG
11/06/2018

Amazon is eyeing a sprawling, family-owned waterfront site surrounding the Anable Basin in Long Island City for its potential move to New York, several sources with knowledge of the plan told POLITICO.

The development would span a neighboring, city-owned site to the north that the Economic Development Corporation is seeking to turn into a 1.5 million-square-foot mixed-use project, the sources said.

The agency last year picked a team that includes developer TF Cornerstone and Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center to build light industrial office space, at least 1,000 new homes and a new school.

The other property — known locally as the Plaxall site for the family that has owned it for decades — is also being eyed for a rezoning that would allow a substantial amount of new development.

That proposal would establish a nearly 15-acre, mixed-use district to accommodate 4,995 new homes, 335,000 square feet of light industrial space and 328,000 square feet of retail, cultural and office space.

Spokespeople for TF Cornerstone, Plaxall and Amazon declined to comment, as did an EDC spokeswoman.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo were split on whether to provide lucrative incentives to such a thriving business. (Several officials said they worked in concert, despite the disagreement.)

Following a New York Times’ report that Amazon was “nearing a deal” for Long Island City, de Blasio said Tuesday the company had yet to make a final decision, but he boasted of the possibility of a Queens headquarters.

Were Amazon to pick Long Island City, the choice “consolidates New York City as an international tech hub,” he told reporters outside his polling station in Brooklyn.

The mayor reiterated his opposition to providing Amazon tax breaks and bristled at a reporter’s characterization of the city’s recent $180 million commitment to infrastructure improvements in Long Island City as a “ploy” to attract the company.

“That’s not fair at all and that is absolutely inaccurate,” de Blasio said.

“I want to differentiate the state and the city — the city is not providing subsidies, we do not believe in subsidies to corporations for retention or to attract corporations,” he added. “The state does have laws that provide automatic subsidies and I’m not going to comment on the state’s policy. I am just going to make sure that everyone understands that the city is not providing subsidies here.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo — whose administration would not disclose any details of the proposal, including the size of the subsidy — said Amazon “would be a big win obviously for anyone who gets it."

“I want to have New York dominate the tech space,” he said, speaking to reporters outside his own polling station in Mount Kisco. “I think they would be foolish to go anywhere else," he said with the arrogance of a New Yorker. "But I think it will be transformative for the entire state.”

He promised to involve himself in the bureaucratic challenges of opening a new headquarters such as construction permit approvals.

“I will personally expedite the government planning process,” Cuomo said.