Amazon scraps HQ2 plans for New York City

On Feb. 14, 2019 Amazon released a statement on its blog announcing that it had decided not to move forward with plans to build it headquarters in Long Island, Queens. The move comes due to the protests and strong opposition from some lawmakers and unions who objected to the $3 billion government subsidies that the company received. HQ2 in Long Island City, Queens was expected to create 25,000 jobs for the community.

“While polls show that 70 percent of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City,” the company said in the statement.

“We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion—we love New York, its incomparable dynamism, people and culture—and particularly the community of Long Island City, where we have gotten to know so many optimistic, forward-leaning community leaders, small business owners and residents. There are currently over 5,000 Amazon employees in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island, and we plan to continue growing these teams,” the Amazon spokesperson said.

Amazon announced that it did not intend to reopen the HQ2 search at this time. “We will proceed as planned in Northern Virginia and Nashville, and we will continue to hire and grow across our 17 corporate offices and tech hubs in the US and Canada,” the statement said.