Amazon Blog Post
It seems noteworthy that a substantial portion of the Amazon dialogue – from both supporters and detractors of Amazon – has centered around notions of community in how this decision has played out.
Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that Amazon was given the opportunity to “be a good neighbor” and rejected “working with the community” (1). Congresswoman Alexandria Oscasio-Cortez tweeted that a group of “dedicated, everyday New Yorkers [and] their neighbors” were able to stop the deal with Amazon (2). New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer stated in a press conference that Amazon does not share New York values (3). Queens Senator Michael Gianaris stated that Amazon pulling out only demonstrates their unwillingness to work with the local community (4).
In contrast, governor Andrew Cuomo issued a statement blaming the New York State Senate, saying that they placed their “own narrow political interests above their community” (5) noting that polls demonstrated overwhelming support of Amazon coming to LIC. A local businessowner in LIC is quoted saying “the community does not agree with [Amazon leaving] at all,” and a CEO of a job-training program in LIC felt that Amazon would have provided inspiration, especially for residents of Queensbridge Houses, a LIC public-housing project (3).
In the official statement released by Amazon, they noted that polls show 70% of New Yorkers supported their plan to come to LIC, and placed blame on state and local politicians who are preventing them from “building the type of relationships […] required to go forward,” and concluded by thanking Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio and “many other community leaders and residents” for their support (6).
With the examples presented in this short blog, I think it becomes clear that the notion of community is bilaterally used as a tool for exemplifying the moral high-ground of their stance. How is community defined? Whose interests are represented within this vague notion of community and who are its constituents? What is the efficacy of democracy (through elected officials) in representing the desires of a community? In the end, much of the debate really centered around the rights of a community, but it doesn’t seem like everyone was on the same page for what that actually meant.
(1) https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/1096110674613358593
(2) https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1096117499492478977
(3) https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-long-island-city-mixed-feelings-that-amazon-wont-move-in-11550190263
(4) https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/nyregion/amazon-hq2-queens.html
(6) https://blog.aboutamazon.com/company-news/update-on-plans-for-new-york-city-headquarters
-Christopher Ryan
