Follow the Hashtag: #NoAmazonNYC
New York, NY – Members of the coalition opposing Amazon’s #HQ2Scam sent out the following statement in response to Governor Cuomo’s State of the State address today:
“It is really hypocritical for the Governor and the Mayor (last week), to claim the mantle of progressive leadership and the fight for income inequality in their speeches, while continuing to push the secretly-negotiated plan to pay $3 billion of OUR communities’ resources to build helipads and an exclusive corporate campus for a trillion-dollar corporation. Amazon uses predatory business practices and union-busting to kill off smaller businesses and good jobs, then coerces us into paying for “job creation” they take credit for. Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo cannot claim to be fighting Trump’s deportation machine while handing over $3 billion to a company that is supplying ICE and law enforcement with technology including facial recognition software.
Amazon’s proposed massive corporate hub, forced on the communities of Queens, will push working families out of our homes, destroy our neighborhood stores and cafes, and jam our already-overcrowded schools. New Yorkers should learn a lesson from Seattle. Amazon’s growth caused a spike in housing costs, making it impossible for families to stay in their homes. Amazon then used its massive and growing power to refuse to pay their fair share to help lessen their impacts on the city. Yet Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio claim to stand with working families over corporations?
We are disgusted by our Mayor’s and Governor’s stance. But the good news is this is not a done deal. Communities all across the state are fighting back and our elected representatives have the power to address the crisis of corporate power in this state and say no to Amazon. We call on members of the Assembly and the Senate to do just that.”
List of organizations include:
Make the Road New York
NYCC (New York Communities for Change)
ALIGN (Alliance for a Greater New York)
DRUM (Desis Rising up and Moving
CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities
NYC-DSA (NYC Democratic Socialists of America)
Primed Out
MPOWER Change
JFREJ (Jews for Racial and Economic Justice)
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