Statement from Senator Michael Gianaris and Council Member Jimmy van Bramer Regarding Amazon LIC Deal

LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. – Senator Michael Gianaris and City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer issued the following statement about the reported deal to bring Amazon HQ2 to Long Island City. “As elected officials representing Long Island City and its surrounding neighborhoods, we have serious reservations about the reported deal to bring Amazon to LIC. “Offering massive corporate welfare from scarce public resources to one of the wealthiest corporations in the world at a time of great need in our state is just wrong.

“The burden should not be on the 99 percent to prove we are worthy of the 1 percent’s presence in our communities, but rather on Amazon to prove it would be a responsible corporate neighbor.

“Corporate responsibility should take precedence over corporate welfare.

“If public reports about this deal prove true, we cannot support a giveaway of this magnitude, a process that circumvents community review through the use of a GPP or the inevitable stress on the infrastructure of a community already stretched to its limits.

“We were not elected to serve as Amazon drones. It is incumbent upon us to stand up on behalf of the people we represent and that is what we intend to do.”