Property and business owners who stand to lose big from Amazon's decision to withdraw from a planned headquarters in Queens are reacting in fury to the news.
Amazon's announcement on Thursday that it would withdraw from plans for a campus in Long Island City was cheered by area renters, who feared rent hikes, as well as local politicians furious about the billion dollar business' tax breaks.
But the move was blasted by business leaders, developers and wealthy property owners who hoped it would boost business for them.
'My big question for those who opposed this is: What is their plan to replace those 25,000 jobs?' Queens Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Grech told DailyMail.com. 'That's the question that people in business are furious about.'
Announced with fanfare in November, Amazon's plan to split its second headquarters between Queens and Metro DC was trumpeted by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, but loudly opposed by some city and state lawmakers, as well as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose congressional district spans parts of Queens and the Bronx.
Many local residents had also raised fears about being pushed out of their homes and neighborhoods by soaring rents if the headquarters went ahead.
Business leaders blasted Amazon's announcement on Thursday that it was reversing course on plans to build a major campus in the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City (file photo)
Amazon faced fierce opposition over the nearly $3 billion in tax breaks officials offered, with critics complaining that the project was an extravagant giveaway - or worse, a shakedown - and that it wouldn't provide much direct benefit to most New Yorkers.
A Quinnipiac University poll released in December found New York City voters supported having an Amazon headquarters 57 percent to 26 percent. But they were divided over the incentives: 46 percent in favor, 44 percent against.
The death blow to the project was dealt by state Senator Michael Gianaris, whose district includes Long Island City.
Earlier this month, Gianaris was appointed to the Public Authorities Control Board, a little-known state panel that could have ultimately rejected the state subsidies.
Restaurants in the area had anticipated a big bump in foot traffic from HQ2 (file photo)
'Amazon underestimated the very, very small yet vocal opponents,' said Grech.
Construction industry groups and some local business leaders had urged the public and officials to get behind the plan.
Eric Benaim, a realty executive who gets most of his sales and rentals in Long Island City, had led a petition in support of Amazon, drawing 4,000 signatures.
'I woke up this morning and I had no clue this would happen. Zero. This news is a shock, and I'm devastated,' he said.
The total value of the incentive package New York used to lure Amazon totaled $2.988 billion.
In simple terms, the city and state were set to pay Amazon $48,000 per job.
Here's the breakdown:
Amazon was set to receive $897 million from New York City's Relocation and Employment Assistance Program. The program offers business income tax credits to relocated jobs from outside of New York City.
It would have also got a 15-year property-tax abatement worth an estimated $386 million via the city's Industrial & Commercial Abatement Program.
The online retailer was going to receive $1.2 billion in refundable 'Excelsior' tax credits if its job creation goals - 25,000 full-time, high-paying roles in 2028 - were met.
Amazon could have received an additional $505 million in a capital grant.
Local restaurants and retail outlets also bemoaned losing the anticipated bump in business that the tide of Amazon employees would have brought.
'It's definitely heartbreaking,' Steve Logiudice, owner of the Centro Pizza Bar & Italian Kitchen, told the New York Post. His restaurant is about two blocks from where Amazon planned to build.
'There'll be less foot traffic, and we depend on foot traffic. We depend on, obviously, the locals, but we depend on the construction workers, the business workers, so we depend on all that.'
Restaurateur Sam Musovic, who owns an apartment in Long Island City, called for a nationwide boycott of Amazon, and planned to hold a protest outside of the Amazon Books in Manhattan on Friday afternoon.
Muscovic's spokesman said in a statement that he had 'invested over a million dollars into his facility, only for Amazon to stand him up on Valentine's day.'
But Grech, the chamber of commerce honcho, dismissed calls for a boycott.
'There's no reason to boycott, there's reason to say thank you to Amazon for considering us in the first place,' Grech told DailyMail.com. 'We were unbelievably fortunate and blessed to be chosen as one of the two locations.'
Grech said that he hoped there was still a chance to salvage the deal. 'Maybe in 60 to 90 days, cooler heads will prevail.'
The decision was a serious blow to Mayor Bill de Blasio and New
