Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is backpedaling after pissing off Amazon, costing New York City 25,000 – 40,000 jobs after they decided to abandoned plans for a New York City HQ2.
AOC’s money-shuffling chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti offered Bloomberg Television a vastly different message to AOC’s February 14th celebration of ‘defeating Amazon’s corporate greed‘ – which NY Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) described as putting her own “narrow political interests” above her community.
“What she was vocal about was the process by which it happened,” explained Chakrabarti, completely ignoring the fact that the hill AOC died on revolved around the $3 billion in tax breaks the company would receive (which she repeatedly suggested was being “handed” to Amazon).
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is not completely ruling out Amazon coming back to New York if the process is done with community input, a top aide says https://t.co/vbRgosMIyM pic.twitter.com/EV9iG78xqE
— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) March 5, 2019
In fact, AOC was vocal about far more than “the process by which it happened.”
- She said Amazon wouldn’t be a “good or healthy neighbor for NYC”
Nothing Amazon has said or done – including selling facial recognition technology to ICE & its intent to fight against worker unionization – would lead us to believe it could be a good or healthy neighbor for NYC. https://t.co/BwASshxJ9F
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 1, 2019
- She railed against “giving $3 billion away to Amazon” in the form of tax breaks, calling it “dressed-up trickle-down economics”
While there isn’t enough money for hot water in NYCHA, we’re giving $3 billion away to Amazon.
“Ocasio-Cortez called the Amazon deal “dressed-up trickle-down economics.”
“What we’re seeing here is a complete public cost for a private corporate benefit.” https://t.co/kXimyE5RRi
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 17, 2018
- She questioned whether the deal would in fact bring 25,000 jobs
Amazon touting “jobs” (has anyone fact-checked where this 25k number even came from? How many were promised to be local hires?)
…but they refused to even consider hiring union when we insisted labor be part of the conversation.
Union jobs are a key ladder to the middle class. https://t.co/HefYzOBhyG
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 15, 2019
Amazon cited AOC’s vocal opposition as a key reason they decided not to move forward with a NY HQ2 in Queens.
Speaking out about the withdrawal earlier this month, Amazon’s head of policy communications, Jodi Seth, pointed blame at Ocasio-Cortez and her anti-Amazon rhetoric.
‘If you talk to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, it’s ‘Never Amazon,” she said. –Daily Mail
Following the decision, a billboard went in Times Square offering a mocking ‘thanks’ to Ocasio-Cortez for her opposition while members of both parties criticized her for helping kill the deal.
Meanwhile, Cuomo is begging Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to reconsider, according to the New York Times, which reports the Governor is “working intensely behind the scenes” to make a personal pitch.
The governor has had multiple phone conversations with Amazon executives, including Mr. Bezos, over the past two weeks, according to two people with knowledge of the efforts. In those calls, Mr. Cuomo said he would navigate the company through the byzantine governmental process. –New York Times
Cuomo has offered guarantees for support for the project, according to the WSJ, while Amazon executives have given no indication that the company would reconsider.
“I’ve had many conversations with Amazon. I hope that they reconsider,” said Cuomo ad a Thursday event in Long Island. “It would be helpful if the State Senate said that they would approve it; that would be helpful. But in the meantime I haven’t heard any changes.”
Perhaps Cuomo doesn’t realize that AOC is the boss?
