Amazon HQ2 decision drawing backlash over massive tax breaks
Mercatus Center senior fellow Veronique de Rugy, American Action Forum President Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Fox News contributor Deroy Murdock discusses the backlash mounting over Amazon’s decision to split its second headquarters between New York and Virginia.
Because of Amazon’s controversial, brand-new headquarters in New York City, hundreds of public school employees in the Queens neighborhood will lose their offices.
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On Thursday, Education Department officials confirmed to the New York Daily News, which broke the news, that the city’s Office of Pupil Transportation and other education departments will be evicted from their current headquarters in Long Island City due to Amazon’s arrival.
After more than a year-long process, Amazon announced on Tuesday that it would split its coveted second headquarters between New York and Northern Virginia, dividing the prize of a $5 billion investment and the creation of more than 50,000 jobs between the two winners.
According to the Daily News, the current structure that will eventually house the e-commerce giant currently holds about 1,000 Education Department workers. The cost and timeline of the move is still undetermined, department spokesman Will Mantell told the Daily News.
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SchoolFood, the office that serves about 1.1 million students, many of whom qualify for free lunches, is also based in the building, located at 44-36 Vernon Blvd., according to the Department of Education’s website. Other tenants include the Public Schools Athletic League and the Division of School Facilities.
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New York enticed the world’s biggest online retailer with performance-based incentives with $1.525 billion, according to Amazon. That means unless Amazon fulfills its promise to create 25,000 new jobs, it won’t receive the money.
It’s also possible Amazon will receive additional tax benefits for building its new office in Long Island City, which qualifies as a federal “opportunity zone,” a classification created last year in President Trump’s tax reform law. It offers incentives like capital gains tax breaks to developers who are investing in low-income areas (though some critics say this particular area shouldn’t really qualify).
Local politicians slammed Amazon for taking advantage of potentially millions of dollars in tax breaks.
Amazon could not be immediately reached for comment. A spokesperson for the New York Education Department did not respond to a request for comment.
