Yesterday morning, I came across the news that caught the attention of every New Yorker: Amazon will be moving to Long Island City with a hefty tax break package to the tune of $1.7 billion thanks to a secret deal between Gov. Andrew Cuomo, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and Amazon’s owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos. Like many of my neighbors, I couldn’t tell if I was more frustrated by the circumvented land use process, or if I was troubled by the massive amount of real estate this effort is projected to consume, or if it was the detail that Bezos would get his own heliport in a city where people can’t even get to work on time due to the lack of investment into the subways and cooperation between our city and state leadership.
Frankly, watching these two frenemies smile with each other, justifying the 25,000 jobs that are purported to come to the city gave me flashbacks to former Mayor Bloomberg’s Downtown Brooklyn Development deal that displaced thousands of families and business due to corporate dealings. Failed promises of affordable housing, employment opportunities, and better consumer accommodations have resulted in a gentrification crisis that has no sign of ending. Given our current citywide housing, health, and transportation issues, I was genuinely taken aback by the causes that bring these typically non-communicative leaders together–and the ones that apparently aren't important enough to yield a solution.
But that’s not the only troubling part. Understandably, several state and citywide electeds expressed concern. For one, the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) process appeared to have been abandoned to make it easier for Amazon to receive all their desired perks without obstruction, interference, or time constraints. But many who were yelling, whether through tweets or at rallies, were also signatories of what I call the Amazon Courtship letter addressed to Bezos dated October 16, 2017. The opening line of this letter reads “We, as a united body of elected officials, urge Amazon to make New York City the home of its second headquarters.”
There were several electeds who signed the letter, including Assemblymember Michael Blake, and Council members Melissa Mark- Viverito, Jumaane Williams and Ydanis Rodriguez. I thought about that as I was standing in the cold with some families holding signs and others holding babies. So many progressive groups, including the Working Families Party, were selecting who they preferred to be the next Public Advocate, yet here I stood in Long Island City with working families who were wondering why Bezos was more important than their apartments that lack adequate heat and hot water.
To be clear, most electeds desire to improve the quality of life for their constituents, and on the surface, a deal with Amazon sounds like the deal one would want to be a part of. But this is why the role of a Public Advocate is so crucial. Her function is to serve as an independent watchdog who critically checks how leadership and agencies make decisions. Despite Cuomo's assertion that this was about being in the "economy of tomorrow," venturing into that economy still requires steps, procedures, and a respect of processes. I have serious issues with how Cuomo and de Blasio brokered this secretive deal. I’m equally concerned about the nature of the original letter which may have emboldened them with the support needed to seal the deal with the global giant. I'm curious about how many of those electeds took this potential deal back to their constituents and polled their opinions prior to signing on. How many of them assessed the impact of prior corporate real estate deals throughout the city?
The reality is over six dozen electeds welcomed the idea of Amazon doing business in the city, and for that reason, none of them could in good faith give a fully impartial inquiry into the various stages of this business decision. While New York City is an attractive destination for the business community, we’re not new to enterprises conducting business here, nor are we new to the legacy of big banks and developments reshaping our city; from Downtown Brooklyn to parts of Harlem. We have witnessed how such projects negatively impact housing affordability, small businesses, transit, and environmental safety. In arguably the largest real estate playground in the world, it was definitely foreseeable that Amazon’s interests would hurt everyday citizens in a material way. Our leaders signed on in spite of that history.
Earlier this week, I launched my campaign for Public Advocate with a message of #BringAChair, inspired by the Hon. Shirley Chisholm. New York City has many tables, but all guests aren't invited. In fact, many of the guests look the same, no matter the dinner party and those guests tend to make the majority of decisions. Whether the guest is a good one, nice one or problematic one is not the issue. For our democratic process to work, we need our legal, political and administrative processes to be adhered to. We need a leader that comes in and asks all of the questions, not just the convenient ones. We need a leader who the public can trust has not contributed to the lack of transparency, oversight, and decision-making that is currently in motion to impact the lives of so many Queens’ residents. The message we collectively felt with this Amazon deal was that our quality of life was up for sale.
As a contributor to this city, I demand this process be reviewed.
As a candidate for the position of New York City’s Public Advocate, I assure you that if elected, an immediate and independent investigation would commence.
