Governor Cuomo: 'Nothing in the Amazon Transaction is New'

 

The following op-ed was written by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The Amazon transaction is an historic transformative moment for the entire New York City region. I have done enough development work during my career to know there is no large development project that is accomplished without controversy: especially in a city like New York and especially in this polarized, hyper-political time. While I appreciate the ideological and political points of view, we must still govern and analyze based on facts. In fact, given the current political turmoil, it is more important than ever.

Amazon publicly held a national competition for over one year essentially challenging governments all across the country to "bid" for their headquarters location. The upside for taxpayers was tremendous: 25,000 to 40,000 direct jobs paying an average of over $150,000; 1,300 construction jobs on average each year during the 15-year construction period; and a major advancement in the tech sector for the future. To put these job gains into perspective, Amazon is committing to an annual payroll of over $3.75 billion annually within 10 years—far and away the state's largest economic development transaction in modern history. Several cities across New York State and over 238 cities across North America competed for the Amazon headquarters and the Long Island City proposal is the only NYS project that was selected as a finalist.

This transaction is a lightning rod for the political rhetoric on both extremes. The extreme conservatives and the socialists both now vehemently oppose "incentives" for Amazon, which is one of the most profitable companies in the country. Compounding the situation, Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post and Amazon and is a competitor to many interests currently involved in the discussion.

The New York Post, which is representative of extreme conservatives, says essentially that New York "gave Amazon $1 billion." Their argument is factually baseless. New York State and New York City gave Amazon nothing. Amazon, by our current tax structure, would generate approximately $1 billion per year in new revenue. Our proposal offered that, when and if those revenues are realized, the government would effectively reduce their $1 billion payment by about $100 million for a net to New York of approximately $900 million. New York doesn't give Amazon $100 million. Amazon gives New York $900 million. The revenue is from state and city taxes, including income taxes [in New York State and New York City: one of the highest rates in the country] with the second highest millionaire's tax in the country (only California is higher).

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Source: The Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo