Also on Wednesday, the New York City Council's Committee on Economic Development held a contentious oversight hearing to examine the agreement made between the city and Amazon to bring the company's 2nd headquarters to Long Island City in Queens. The deal announced last month has received significant scrutiny from local elected officials who claim they were left out of the negotiations to provide approximately $3 billion dollars in City and State tax and other incentives for the company. Amazon and its proponents assert that the new headquarters will bring approximately 25,000 jobs to the area and an estimated $27.5 billion in new city and state revenue. Speaker Corey Johnson, Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer and others grilled Amazon executives and the city's Economic Development Corporation President and CEO James Patchett during the three-hour long hearing, expressing frustration with the lack of transparency regarding the controversial incentives and the impacts that project may cause in the local community. Speaker Johnson chastised the deal, saying the it should have gone through the City Council's land use process for a fair review. To view a recording of the hearing, please click here.
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