Last week Amazon announced it was dropping plans to build a new headquarters in Queens amid pressure from politicians and activists over the tax breaks it would receive.
The reported deal Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo made with the online retail giant to come to Queens and build a $2.5 billion headquarters included the city and state giving Amazon $2.8 billion in tax breaks and subsidies.
The trade-off, at least on paper, was that Amazon would create at least 25,000 high-paying job, and between the jobs, along with real estate and small business offshoot development related with the headquarters would result in $27 billion in tax revenue.
In light of Amazon pulling out of the deal, KCP asked the top-tier public advocate candidates the following two questions:
Now that Amazon has pulled out of the NYC deal, what ideas/policies do you have for job creation and to grow the city’s economy and business sector?
Secondly, with the increase in the minimum wage, family paid leave and other strengthening of protections for workers, what policies would you advocate for to help businesses with 10 employees or less?
Below are the answers we received:
City Council Member & Public Advocate Candidate Rafael Espinal:
Question: Now that Amazon has pulled out of the NYC deal, what Ideas/policies do you have for job creation and to grow the city’s economy and business sector?
“Government should be supporting people to start and grow their own businesses, not the big corporates who are already doing well. If New Yorkers can create 2500 small businesses that each employ ten people, that’s the same number of jobs Amazon says it would have created – but the profits will stay in the community and support New Yorkers and their families. There is huge job creation potential in green industries, such as installing and maintaining rooftop solar and green roofs. My bill that requires solar or green roofs on all buildings would lead to many jobs being created. Fixing our subway and NYCHA buildings will also create jobs. As the only Public Advocate candidate with a game-changing plan to inject billions of dollars into the MTA and NYCHA immediately by ending tax rebates to Wall Street, I am confident that this would see construction jobs created quickly.”
Question: Secondly, with the increase in the minimum wage, family paid leave and other strengthening of protections for workers, what policies would you advocate for to help businesses with 10 employees or less?
Assembly Member & Public Advocate Candidate Michael Blake:
Now that Amazon has pulled out of the NYC deal, what ideas/policies do you have for job creation and to grow the city’s economy and business sector?
While there needed to be significant changes to the initially proposal, it is very disappointing that Amazon is walking away from New Yorkers and canceling their proposed plan to move to Long Island City. A collaborative deal could have brought Jobs and Justice to New Yorkers. It is a shame that Amazon walked away from the deal and a shame that the city doesn’t have more of a strategy moving forward to create jobs with union protections. Our residents need good jobs and higher wages, along with local hiring and Immigrant protections. Our city needs leadership with a plan for workforce development, including focused on tech sector and related jobs, and greater investments in infrastructure and transportation in order to make deals with companies like Amazon work for New Yorkers. But, we can and must focus on job creation with or without Amazon. One of the ways we can do this is by investing more in Minority and Women-Owned Businesses. I sponsored and helped pass legislation that demands state agencies develop growth plans for increasing the number of MWBEs awarded state contracts and called for oversight, transparency, and more accessible information about contract processes to make it easier for MWBE to compete. As Public Advocate, I will establish a Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) through the City Charter Revision Commission to oversee NYC’s MWBE program, establish CDOs at every city agency, and dedicate more time and resources toward tracking our progress on MWBEs to hold us accountable. I will fight for more resources to prepare people for good-paying, long-term work, particularly in tech and healthcare, where we know companies are hiring. I will also support investments in broadband infrastructure that disconnected communities need to develop skills for tech-related work by exploring a municipal service option and investing more in CUNY Tech Prep, an industry-designed course for computer science majors in the CUNY senior college system that teaches applied web skills for free.
Secondly, with the increase in the minimum wage, family paid leave and other strengthening of protections for workers, what policies would you advocate for to help businesses with 10 employees or less?
These protections are essential, but, we can do more. I have spent years working to support small businesses because they grow communities. From the Obama White House, where I fought for more opportunities for Women and Minority-Owned Businesses, to the State House, where I won legislation to pay small businesses faster so that they wouldn’t go out of business and could pay workers on time, I have pushed for economic development and for government to help create jobs. But, we need to do more than just create jobs, we also need to focus on making it easier to be a parent and an employee. Childcare is one of the most expensive costs of living in our city. It is not fair that parents who work day and night to support their families are forced to pay exorbitant amounts for someone to take care of their children while they work. I support fully funding the state’s Facilitated Childcare Enrollment Project as well as funding transportation options for parents who should not have to pay more when they are late because of delayed trains and busses. I also believe we need greater transparency around the city’s free childcare options to ensure that the parents who need it most have access.
City Council Member & Public Advocate Jumaane Williams:
Now that Amazon has pulled out of the NYC deal, what Ideas/policies do you have for job creation and to grow the city’s economy and business sector?
“Amazon pulling out of plans to locate in Long Island City isn’t some sign that we are not attractive to business. New York is one of the most competitive places for businesses to come because of our 8 million residents and mass transportation system. We have the most productive, best educated workforce anywhere, and it’s important to not solely focus on large employers like Amazon. When the secret deal came out, it was clear that hit was a ridiculous corporate giveaway. The leadership of the city should have used its power to make a better deal with Amazon that benefits communities and changes their behavior. We welcome those employers don’t need billions of our tax dollars just to setup shop here. We need to do a much better job of supporting our small businesses, which are the backbone of our economy. As Public Advocate, I plan to continue supporting incubator and seed funding programs that don’t just hold the promise of jobs, but enables New Yorkers to own their businesses. I want to work with my allies in
“I was a small business owner so understand the hardships many owners face. As a Council Member, I’ve passed significant legislation that strengthens employee protections and access to jobs, including the Fair Chance Act, which bans employers from asking about arrest records or convictions during the initial job application process. When I negotiated this bill, which helps break down barriers to jobs, I made sure to carve out small businesses with 3 or fewer employees, as these are typically family owned businesses, where such a requirement could be a detrimental burden on the store’s survival. As Public Advocate, I look forward to continuing to push our agencies to meet or exceed current M/WBE contracting goals, expanding and better publicizing loan and financial management programs, and actually sitting down with small business advocates to hear from them. This isn’t an either/or proposition–we must protect workers while supporting small businesses.
Public Advocate Candidate Dawn Smalls:
Smalls put the two questions together and came up with the following answer:
The fastest way to create new jobs is to expand existing businesses. We can do that by identifying ways to make it easier for entrepreneurs and management to grow their footprint in NYC by getting permits faster, consolidating regulation requirements, and cutting down compliance costs. Also, to achieve growth you need to have conditions for growth and that starts with a great transit system, affordable housing, and schools. We absolutely need to address and invest in these critical services.
With respective to Amazon, I am sorry to see the deal die, particularly for the residents of Queensbridge Houses that very clearly wanted to see them here. That said Amazon already employs more than 5,000 New Yorkers and just spent $55M on a Hudson Yards office where they expect to employ 2,000 people. They also just bought Whole Foods which has 13 stores in NYC. That is also to say you will see Amazon continue to grow its presence in NYC even though it will not build its HQ in Long Island City.
City Council Member & Public Advocate Candidate Eric Ulrich:
“We have a toxic climate for businesses of all sizes right now in this city. Small businesses are begin regulated out of existence, and now Amazon packed up and left. As Public Advocate, I’ll be a voice for small business and job creators. We need jobs not burdensome fines.”
