In a span measured in months, New York was able to attract a HUGE commercial enterprise that by its own reckoning would employ up to 25,000 employees, and then convince them to bugger off since the people really didn’t want them after all.
I’m guessing these were not 25,000 minimum wage jobs, but rather competitive pay for skills jobs with salaries matching the corporate standards for those skills.
Don’t get me wrong, there was a downside to the deal. It was akin to what every NFL team demands when they threaten to move from their current city or offer to come to yours. They want the taxpayer to help foot the bill.
In the case of Amazon coming to NY, the announced move included something like $1.525 billion in tax incentives, spread over a number of years. It would have also included the costs for infrastructure upgrades in the transportation system (both roads and rail).
But there was clearly a huge plus side as a new industry rolls into town. There would be a boom in the housing market as well as local retail sales for products the employees couldn’t get through Amazon. Those same employees would then become part of the tax base to pay for all the social programs New York politicians are so fond of. It was just the other day the Governor of NY was complaining about Florida “stealing” all the residents of NY, so 25,000 good paying jobs might have eased the sting of a state that just announced a $2.3 billion budget shortfall. Of course, that shortfall has nothing to do with the policies of state government, it is all Washington’s (probably President Trump’s) fault.
Fortunately, for Amazon, the visionary politicians of the state convinced them their corporate greed wasn’t welcome in Long Island City and they should just not unpack their bags and leave. So, they have.
Fortunately for New York the Green New Deal will be there for them.
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