NEW YORK | Amazon - Long Island City | CANCELED

[chris08876]

I like the potential impact on the skyline. Essentially creating a long waterfront mass from Astoria to Hunters Point to Greenpoint.

I'm a fan of the Astoria neighborhood, but there's a lot of inland density potential between the Ravenswood Projects and Queensbridge Projects.

South of LIC, along Vernon Boulevard, tons of potential in that area. I'd like to see a corridor of high rises along Jackson Avenue.

Ferry expansion/routes would aid in transportation.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by tdawg

I'm hoping that all of these new units being delivered near Amazon's LIC HQ will lessen the impact on my rent here in NW Queens/Astoria. But then again, it's probably wrong to assume that every Amazon employee is going to want to live right by where they work. Greenpoint is going to explode.

I hate to say it, but I do believe that there should be at least one indoor or underground parking facility for a few thousand in the area. It won't do wonders for the traffic, but it will make the site more accessible for areas that are close, but not close enough to make walking an option, and don't have direct subway access.



https://www.amny.com/opinion/editori...nyc-1.23491480

A prime opportunity for NYC
A mammoth effort to bring up to 40,000 Amazon jobs to the region and an estimated $900 million a year in new tax revenue to the state.





By The Editorial Board
November 19, 2018

The tallest building in Long Island City is best known for the Citi emblazoned atop its green glass facade.

Soon, that tower could sport an Amazon logo, in what would be just the start of a mammoth effort to bring up to 40,000 Amazon jobs to the region and an estimated $900 million a year in new tax revenue to the state.

But none of that is going to happen overnight. Tremendous challenges remain to get Long Island City and its environs ready for an Amazon campus. And the anti-corporate, anti-change rhetoric of disaster and catastrophe from some elected officials hasn’t been helpful. To get the benefits and input they crave, a better strategy would be to ask smart, specific questions, analyze problems, and offer potential solutions on issues like transit, traffic, housing and schools to make this project a blessing, not a burden.

The potential benefits extend far beyond the borders of Long Island City, touching all five boroughs and beyond. There’s the chance to build on the existing technology industry that has begun to grow, particularly in Manhattan, to create a diverse sector of software and other firms that could power a new economic engine here.

That’ll require our academic institutions, business leaders, political officials and planners to think strategically about how to take advantage of the synergy that could come from Amazon and other companies that will spring up because of its presence. But questions remain as to whether smaller firms will be able to compete with Amazon for talent, and whether the region can develop a large enough talent pool to meet the need. Community colleges and universities will have to develop the programs necessary to prepare our students to work in the tech economy.

Then there are larger concerns, about where those talented workers will live, and how they will get to and from their new workplace. That means addressing the city’s continued need for affordable housing and the even more staggering demand for better transit and transportation options. Start with necessary subway upgrades. Then, improve at least one of the Long Island Rail Road stops — Hunterspoint Avenue and the Long Island City stop at Borden Avenue and Second Street — neither of which handles significant train traffic now. Adding a station at Sunnyside Yards would be a particular boon.

When Rockefeller Center was first proposed in the late 1920s there were plenty of public objections to some of the plans. But John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his partner found a way to “yes.” Eventually, the bustling hub of office buildings, shops and underground passageways, the famous plaza where the Christmas tree is now being decorated, and the accompanying Radio City Music Hall, were built.

That city within the city put New Yorkers to work then, and has since become an economic and arts centerpiece. Now, we can’t picture NYC without it.

[NYguy]

https://nypost.com/2018/11/19/cuomo-...ntive-package/

Cuomo rips critics of Amazon’s $2.8B incentive package

By Carl Campanile
November 19, 2018

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday ripped critics across the political spectrum as “totally hypocritical”– including the New York Times, New York Post and CNN — for slamming the $2.8 billion incentive package the city and state offered Amazon to open a new headquarters in Long Island City.

“This transaction is a lightning rod for the political rhetoric on both extremes,” Cuomo said in an op-ed.

He said that media companies that own the Post, Times and CNN have sought or received similar tax benefits from New York.

He said The Post argues “we should lower taxes for all businesses rather than just provide incentives. Their theory is that if taxes were reduced, you wouldn’t need to incentivize any company to come to this state because taxes would be irrelevant in their economic calculus.”

He said that’s “unrealistic and impossible” because “unless all states had the same tax rate, there would always be economic incentives to move to one state or the other.”

He then took aim at the Times.

“The New York Times is also being totally hypocritical. . . .The New York Times itself makes the same economic decisions and has also received significant tax benefits from New York State and New York City in making decisions on their locations,” Cuomo said.

“In fact, when the Times announced in 2001 that it would move into a new building in Times Square, it received tens of millions in tax breaks from New York City. What’s more, the Times asked the State to use its powers to override city zoning processes over local opposition—the same powers now being criticized for their use in the Amazon deal.”

He noted that CNN, which also rapped the transaction, has “also been the recipient of significant public subsidies receiving over $1 billion in state tax credits.”

[C.]

Originally Posted by NYguy

https://nypost.com/2018/11/19/cuomo-...ntive-package/

Cuomo rips critics of Amazon’s $2.8B incentive package

By Carl Campanile
November 19, 2018

THIS. IS. CLASSIC!!

[BrownTown]

Originally Posted by CIA

THIS. IS. CLASSIC!!

It really is funny though how the same liberal media organization and politicians suddenly endorse trickle-down economics when it means THEY are the ones benefiting from tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations.

[NYguy]

https://www.syracuse.com/state/index...n_deal_ny.html

Gov. Cuomo defends Amazon HQ2 deal, denies NY 'gave' $1.5 billion

"The New York Post, which is representative of extreme conservatives, says essentially that New York 'gave Amazon $1 billion,'" Cuomo wrote in an op-ed published on the state's website Monday. "Their argument is factually baseless.

"New York State and New York City gave Amazon nothing."

"Amazon, by our current tax structure, would generate approximately $1 billion per year in new revenue," Cuomo said Monday. "Our proposal offered that, when and if those revenues are realized, the government would effectively reduce their $1 billion payment by about $100 million for a net to New York of approximately $900 million. New York doesn't give Amazon $100 million. Amazon gives New York $900 million."

Cuomo, who previously joked he'd change his name to "Amazon Cuomo" to seal the deal, called the agreement "one of the largest, most competitive economic development investments in U.S. history." Amazon received 238 proposals, including from Syracuse and other Upstate NY metro areas, before narrowing the list to 20 in January.

The Democratic governor said other states offered more incentives, such as $7 billion from New Jersey, $8.5 billion from Maryland and $6 billion from Louisiana.

"As for the local officials who now oppose the project, many of these same individuals signed a letter supporting the application for the same location knowing full well it was a national competition in which states and cities were putting together incentive packages. These same officials voted and authorized the long-standing economic development programs deployed in the Amazon transaction. It is pure political posturing."

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...n-1b-factually

A spokesperson for the Times told The Hill in a statement, "The New York Times editorial referenced by Gov. Cuomo argues that New York City and Arlington were primarily chosen by Amazon because they have the largest pool of tech workers, not because of financial incentives."

"The editorial board points to the fact that the Commonwealth of Virginia (which negotiated on behalf of Arlington) offered far less and other cities (who were not selected) offered far more."

"And while the editorial expresses skepticism of the effectiveness of tax incentives for economic development, it clearly acknowledges that The New York Times Company has also been a beneficiary," the spokesperson concluded.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by BrownTown

It really is funny though how the same liberal media organization and politicians suddenly endorse trickle-down economics when it means THEY are the ones benefiting from tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations.

A tailored one-off corporate incentive package is hardly the same thing as an all encompassing market-wide economic philosophy. What'd you do hear that on Tucker last night?

[BrownTown]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

A tailored one-off corporate incentive package is hardly the same thing as an all encompassing market-wide economic philosophy. What'd you do hear that on Tucker last night?

Except it's NOT a one off. All the media organizations mentioned in the article also recieved subsidies. Large corporations not paying taxes is common practice.

[patriotizzy]

Originally Posted by NYguy

https://nypost.com/2018/11/19/cuomo-...ntive-package/

Cuomo rips critics of Amazon’s $2.8B incentive package

By Carl Campanile
November 19, 2018

The lying, hypocritical media. These media conglomerates are the worst of the worst. I am glad they are being called out by others in political power game. Incentives are not new. Incentives are the name of the game when you want something, whether it's a personal ideology, career move, prosperity for a region, etc. It is not merely money, but an extent to other mediums.

[Zerton]

Originally Posted by JMKeynes

True. It looks like the River North District in Chicago, sans the towers sitting on huge parking garages. However, Amazon should transform it a lot.

Looks more like the crap in Gold Coast rather than River North. Gold Coast is slightly north of River North with very ugly 80s residential buildings.

River North is where Tribune Tower, Trump Tower, Hancock Tower, Marina City, the IBM Building, etc, etc are. Some of the finest architecture in the world. The Streeterville area of River North has some duds, newer banal buildings similar to LIC.

[NYguy]

https://licpost.com/amazon-will-like...r-public-input

Amazon Will Likely Begin Headquarters Construction in 2020, City and State Vow Chances for Public Input



Anable Basin today, where Amazon will build its headquarters. (Photo: Nathaly Pesantez)


Nov. 20, 2018
By Nathaly Pesantez

Amazon is likely to begin building out its Long Island City headquarters in 2020, with the city and state both pledging a lineup of opportunities for the public to shape facets of the project well before construction takes off.

The city Economic Development Corporation and Empire State Development, which held a local media briefing on Monday, said a 14-month process is now in the works where the public, by way of meetings, hearings, newly-formed advisory committees and more, will help dictate the buildout of the e-commerce giant’s expansive campus at Anable Basin.

Officials stressed at the briefing, which comes just a week after Amazon officially announced its new headquarter locations to much buzz and criticism over its proceedings, that now begins a “very public conversation” on a campus that Amazon is anticipated to begin moving into in 2022.

“A lot of folks have reacted to this thinking that this is a fully designed project,” said James Patchett, president of NYC EDC. “The truth of the matter is it’s not.”

The 14-month planning process, anticipated to wrap up in early 2020 and with Amazon likely putting shovels on the ground immediately after, will result in the state’s plan that aims to rezone the basin and bring about Amazon’s development, officials said.

The outline, also known as the General Project Plan (GPP), will dictate elements like the size and scope of what the company can actually build on site, along with other uses.

“We need to work with the community to determine where the buildings will go on the sites, how many square feet will actually go there, what the height limits will be, how they’ll be designed, how they’ll be integrated with the community…” Patchett said. “All of that will be part of the conversation.”

The plan also builds on the components already nailed down in Amazon’s upcoming 4 million square foot development, like a school, open space, and a workforce training center, as part of the company’s memorandum of understanding with the city and state.

“In terms of land use, there is no existing design for these sites,” Patchett said.

Included in the months-long planning is an environmental review process, set to start soon and which officials highlight as one of the ways the local community can make their voices heard.

The public, like in all environmental review proceedings, can give input on what should be looked at when determining the impact of Amazon’s development on the surrounding neighborhood in areas like infrastructure, noise, air quality, traffic, parking and more.

Input is typically given during public scoping meetings and open comment sections, which will likely kick off in 2019.

Amazon, meanwhile, is expected to hand in a plan within the next two months that will give the state a starting point in how to think of the project’s environmental review process, according to Holly Leicht, ESD executive vice president of real estate development and planning.

While Leicht says Amazon would ostensibly begin construction after the 14-month process ends in 2020, the deal signed with the city and state says the company will commence construction within a year of the GPP’s final approval.

While the environmental review takes shape, the GPP will also begin to be drafted, which will be done in coordination with a soon-to-be-formed Community Advisory Committee—yet another way both city and state say the public will be represented in planning.

This committee, typically established in GPPs, includes local elected officials at the state and city level, like State Sen. Michael Gianaris and Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer—both of whom have opposed several facets of the deal Amazon struck with the city and state. The electeds, additionally, can appoint people to the committee.

Officials say they are in conversations now with elected officials about the committee, and expect its makeup and launch to be finalized within the next week.

City and state officials, along with Amazon representatives, will also head to local community boards to present on plans and milestones “multiple times” and hear feedback over the course of the roughly year-long process.

Amazon’s Anable Basin campus could span up to 8 million square feet and provide around 40,000 jobs over the course of 15 years.

The company will be temporarily occupying 1 million square feet at One Court Square as the buildout along the Long Island City waterfront is underway.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by patriotizzy

The lying, hypocritical media. These media conglomerates are the worst of the worst. I am glad they are being called out by others in political power game. Incentives are not new. Incentives are the name of the game when you want something, whether it's a personal ideology, career move, prosperity for a region, etc. It is not merely money, but an extent to other mediums.

No matter how bad it gets don't let trump convince you to take the cyanide. For a while I thought your signature was a joke, but now I'm pretty sure it isn't.

[NYguy]

Let's not delve into personal politics here.

PM if you must.

[NYguy]

https://nypost.com/2018/11/20/compan...way-employees/

Companies worry Amazon’s HQ2 will lure away employees

By Associated Press
November 20, 2018

When tech giants like Amazon expand, other companies don’t just worry about losing business. They also fret about hanging on to their employees.

Some of the industries that have defined New York City and the Washington, DC, area will face increased competition for talent when Amazon sets up shop in their territory, with plans to hire 50,000 new workers amid the tightest job market in decades.

In New York, big banks are among the biggest employers of computer technology professionals. J.P. Morgan Chase employs 50,000 people in technology and hired its first artificial intelligence research chief in May. Goldman Sachs has said one-quarter of its employees work in engineering-related roles. Amazon’s traditional retail rivals are striving to expand their online business and develop new technologies to improve operational efficiency.

But young professionals are flocking to tech companies, lured by the idea of changing the way people do everything from buying homes to exercising.

“In the past, the traditional career path has been to go into financial services, investment banking and consulting. What we see now is a surge of interest in tech companies,” said Dan Wang, a professor of business and sociology at Columbia University.

Amazon will begin recruiting in a few months for its two new headquarters in New York’s Long Island City and the Washington suburb of Arlington, seeking talent to support an empire that has expanded to include cloud computing services, advertising, video streaming and TV production. The company expects to hire about 25,000 people over several years for each location. The average salary will be about $150,000 a year.

Amazon’s move is only the most dramatic example of technology companies expanding their presence in the East Coast. Instagram opened a new office in New York over the summer and plans to hire hundreds of engineers. Google reportedly is looking to add 12,000 employees in New York City.

Amazon, now 24 years old, will have to contend with New York’s thriving startup scene, where companies flush with venture capital offer young people big roles and the chance to upend new industries.

That’s the kind of pitch prospective employees hear from Peloton, which announced plans Monday to move into bigger headquarters in midtown Manhattan in 2020. The fitness tech company, which received $550 million in new investment in August, will be hiring thousands of people across locations in the next years, especially in technology, marketing and sales, said Lynch, the company president. It currently has nearly 100 positions open in New York City.

“We are aware of Amazon and it’s amazing for New York City. But Google has been here. We’ve been recruiting against Google for a long time,” Lynch said.

[nyc_alex]

Originally Posted by BrownTown

It really is funny though how the same liberal media organization and politicians suddenly endorse trickle-down economics when it means THEY are the ones benefiting from tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations.

There’s nothing hypocritical here at all. In fact, it’s a good sign because the journalists are operating independently of the parent corporation. They are not the same entity at all, and journalists should have zero obligation to consider the owning companies interests. This is how it works for proper journalism outlets. See the NY Observer (criticized Jared Kushner who owned it at the time).

[NYguy]

^ Again, the focus here is on Amazon coming to LIC and New York.

https://nypost.com/2018/11/20/amazon...orts-networks/

Amazon said to be in talks to buy most of YES network

By Josh Kosman and Richard Morgan November 20, 2018

The New York Yankees and Amazon are in talks about forming a strategic partnership to fund and operate the YES cable network, sources tell The Post.

The Bronx Bombers are looking at Long Island City’s newest import, Jeff Bezos, to help support its bid for the YES cable network, which could be for more than $4 billion, The Post has learned.

The Yankees own 20 percent of YES and have the right to buy the rest of the cable network from Fox without going through a competitive auction, sources said.

...So the Yankees, who are not interested in putting in any more equity — rather than just rolling over its 20 percent stake — want a strategic partner who can produce sharp telecasts to finance the rest, the source said.

“The team’s interest is in making sure fans get well-produced games,” the source close to the situation said.

Amazon could stream YES games on Prime Video, which could fundamentally change the sports media business, a source close to the situation said.

[NYguy]

https://www.geekwire.com/2018/amazon...ords-show/amp/

Amazon’s new HQs in DC and NY could grow much larger than previously reported, records show

By Monica Nickelsburg
November 20, 2018

Amazon HQ2 became a media spectacle because of the promise to bring 50,000 new jobs to a single community. News that Amazon would split its second headquarters between two cities, with 25,000 jobs each, muted that buzz quite a bit over the past few weeks.

But the fine print of Amazon’s agreements with the winning regions, New York and Washington D.C., shows that each office could reach nearly the size of the original, single HQ2 that Amazon promised.

A memorandum of understanding reached between Amazon and New York City includes a “planned expansion for a total of 6,000,000 to 8,000,000 square feet of commercial space that is expected to result in the creation of up to 40,000 new jobs within 15 years.” New York officials reiterated the plan in a letter to Amazon’s head of economic development, Holly Sullivan.

"Based on our discussions, Amazon.com Services, Inc. will establish a headquarters in Long Island City of 4,000,000 to 8,000,000 square feet, create 25,000 jobs with a potential expansion of up to 40,000 jobs,” wrote Howard Zemsky, CEO of Empire State Development.

If those expansions come to fruition, it would make the two HQ2s nearly the size of Amazon’s Seattle headquarters, which employs more than 45,000. Amazon’s growth to that size over about a decade has put a strain on traffic and housing costs in Seattle. Although Seattle’s population boom does not rest solely on Amazon’s shoulders, the tech giant is the poster child of tech growth in the city.

[NYguy]

http://amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2018/...ce-report-says

Long Island City Real Estate Booms After Amazon Announces New York Office, Report Says

EMILY GILLESPIE
November 21st, 2018

Though Amazon said it won’t begin hiring for its newly announced office in Queens, N.Y. until 2019, condo sales in the neighborhood are already booming.

For example, one Long Island City brokerage firm said it sold 150 units in just four days, The Wall Street Journal reports.

...Just before news broke of the new headquarters’ location, two Amazon employees reportedly beat the rush and bought units in New Jersey and Queens, The Wall Street Journal reports. Lawyers told the paper that they’re not aware of any broken laws associated with employees making real-estate transactions based on nonpublic information.

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/ama...dos-1542709801

Amazon Employees Join the Rush to Buy Long Island City Condos

By Josh Barbanel
Nov. 20, 2018

...Joining the rush were at least three Amazon employees who recently bought homes in Long Island City, according to real-estate brokers. Two of them signed contracts at the Galerie, a new 11-story condo building with a pool and interior courtyard, said Brendan Aguayo, a senior managing director at Halstead Property Development Marking, which is selling units there.

The two employees decided to the buy units just before the first press reports surfaced that Amazon was likely to choose Long Island City for its new headquarters, Mr. Aguayo said. The buyers now live in New Jersey and Queens, he added.

Brokers say they have already heard from Amazon employees working at the company’s Seattle headquarters who said they anticipated a transfer to the new office.

Several Amazon workers expressed interest in studios and one-bedroom units, generally priced below $1 million in Long Island City. Some were also looking at less expensive, low-rise neighborhoods including Astoria in Queens and Greenpoint in Brooklyn, Mr. Smith said.

On Friday, an Amazon employee based in Seattle made a deal to buy a one-bedroom condo at the Craftsmen Townhomes, a low-rise development in the neighborhood, said Eric Benaim, president and founder of brokerage Modern Spaces, which represents many condo developers. One-bedroom condos at the Craftsmen are listed for $800,000 to about $1.2 million.

More developers are waiting in the wings. The 778-foot tall Skyline Tower, due to be the tallest building in Queens, is now planning to open its sales office in January rather than in the spring, when sales activity usually thaws, Mr. Benaim said. The tower is across the street from One Court Square, where Amazon will be taking office space until its new headquarters is built.

[Zerton]

Do they want to build 1 building or a complex of buildings? For 25,000 people and all the associated amenities we're talking about a massive building.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Zerton

Do they want to build 1 building or a complex of buildings? For 25,000 people and all the associated amenities we're talking about a massive building.

It will be a campus, with multiple buildings. 8 million square ft., for up to 40,000 workers.

The buidings will undoutedly be tall (the site was previously going through a rezoning for 700 ft. residential towers) but there are probably some limits, because of LGA flight patterns. Not sure if supertalls would work here.