Amazon Selects New York City and Northern Virginia for New Headquarters

Post by FiveSquared » Tue, Nov 13, 2018, 6:01 PM UTC

itsameta4 wrote: post #120

SippinLean wrote: post #12

> Long Island City is a mixed-use community where arts and industry intersect It's mostly empty warehouses, housing projects, and luxury condos. There's very little in terms of culture or even basic needs, like grocery stores. > Long Island City has some of the best transit access in New York City, with 8 subway lines, 13 bus lines, commuter rail, a bike-sharing service, and ferries serving the area Realistically it'…

It's the 7, G, E, M, R, N, and W. Queens and Queensboro Plazas are only a couple blocks from the Citi building. I agree though - this happening during the L train shutdown will absolutely nuke the G. The E and 7 are already at capacity. The M and R have a good bit of room, though. As for the N and W, they also still have a good bit of capacity, it's just a shame, because rents in Astoria were just starting to go down…

Post by schnevets » Tue, Nov 13, 2018, 6:04 PM UTC

merolish wrote: post #95

schnevets wrote: post #38

As a New Yorker, I am super disappointed that they chose Long Island City. There were contenders where this stimulus could have been a paradigm shift. Instead, it's just a drop in the bucket for a city that is already growing recklessly. My vote was for Newark, personally. Plenty of office space; access to NJIT, Rutgers, and Princeton; and good public transit that connects directly into NYC. Bezos and co. could have…

Newark would be a painful commute for anyone wanting to live in the boroughs, LI, or Westchester/CT, i.e. a ton of people. I do hope NYC deals with its growing pains -- I finally left last year, in part because of rising costs and aggravation.

Post by imgabe » Tue, Nov 13, 2018, 6:07 PM UTC

drfuchs wrote: post #118

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the subsidies are per job, is that a problem? Pay half as much for half as many jobs - seems reasonable to me. Doesn't seem like "false pretenses" in a way that materially affects the deal.

It might be nice if the subsidies were granted “per job”, but it seems as though they weren’t. Also, it’s not yet public what these cities promised, but how do you “half build” new transit infrastructure and such?

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Nov 13, 2018, 6:08 PM UTC

matchbok wrote: post #113

bsanr wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Moving is a substantial expense. Should people be forced to consider the likelihood that housing costs that are currently within their means might rise outside of them at some unknown point in the future, and to some unknown degree, when choosing housing? How exactly should that be considered? It seems regressive, socially, to force this consideration on the people least able to afford it. After all, people who "choo…

...Yes? This has been happening for hundreds of years. Part of being a responsible adult is managing your finances and being prepared. It is crazy to me that so much attention these days is basically advocating for the babysitting of adults. It is not as if this will happen overnight, either. If we allow people to stay in subsidized housing we remove the biggest carrot for self-motivation.

Post by slededit » Tue, Nov 13, 2018, 6:09 PM UTC

TuringNYC wrote: post #80

differentView wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by "hurting local businesses"? Wouldn't more highly paid workers in the area be good for local businesses?

I was similarly confused by this...its not like its a Walmart superstore undurcutting the local mom-n-pop shop. That said, perhaps the fear is "over-cutting" -- that HQ2 slurps up top talent from local tech businesses and overbids salaries. I can totally see that happening, especially with the only-handful of truly high-tech businesses in the Northern Virginia community. This is a bad thing short term and a good thin…