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In New York, negative echo for the new Amazon HQ


Suddenly, between dog and wolf, the New York of the 1970s reappears: dilapidated warehouses, a gas station for taxis and a waitress in a beer hall. The gangsters have disappeared. A little further on, a palisade looms over land overlooking Manhattan, on the other side of the East River.

It is probably there – because nothing is definitively decided – that Amazon will build its New York headquarters. In the heart of an industrial area called “Long Island City”, in the district of Queens, between two bridges, where stands a Citibank tower. At the end of the day, 25,000 jobs. Who would not dream of such a windfall, announced with great fanfare in November 2018 by the mayor of New York and the governor of the state, Democrats Bill de Blasio and Andrew Cuomo, reconciled for the occasion?

“It will become Manhattan”, says real estate agent Stelios Hiotis, who has seen prices rise by around 12% in the sector and advises to return in a year, when the market will be calmer. He’s delighted, and he’s one of the few.

Apart from the traders, all the inhabitants questioned are hostile to the project. “You have seen how the metro is saturated. Already there is no place to accommodate us… ”, complains a tenant. Leslie, a mother and young teacher, is also against it. Salaries will average 150,000 dollars (just over 130,000 euros) per year. Certainly not jobs for the underprivileged young people she teaches.

Article reserved for our subscribers Read also Money and power: Amazon chooses New York and Washington for its new headquarters

No unionized employees

A hundred yards away, at the Cannelle pastry shop, Michael Gianaris, elected Democrat of the New York State Senate, holds a meeting. He is the spokesperson for his constituents. “People are very worried. It is already very expensive. After that, it will be almost impossible to live there. “ He evokes saturated public transport, school places that will be taken by storm. “This district has 60,000 inhabitants. There is going to be a 50% increase in its population. “ A huge change that risks driving out the poor for the benefit of future Amazon employees, who will undoubtedly not come from the Big Apple.

During the meeting are discussed San Francisco (California) and Seattle (Washington State), with their homeless and their crazy real estate prices.

What is shocking is the tax deduction of $ 3 billion (2.6 billion euros) granted by New York to Amazon. “That’s what bothers me the most: they take the money and don’t return anything”, accuses Mr. Gianaris. The e-commerce giant suffers from a bad reputation in popular left-wing circles and the helicopter runway planned to be built by Jeff Bezos, the company’s boss, is not helping matters.

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