Good riddance to Amazon's New York swindle

Cities should never make New York's Amazon mistake again

Amazon leaves New York City.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Drew Angerer/Getty Images, Amazon)

After a tremendous backlash from community leaders and activists, Amazon is reversing plans to place a new headquarters in Queens — and more importantly, giving up a giant sack of tax benefits (totaling over $3 billion) from various parts of the New York government. That outrageous handout — negotiated in secret with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) — was the main motivator for the outrage.

On balance, it's great news. Amazon did not remotely need the money, and New York City already has low unemployment, a severe housing shortage, and a dysfunctional transit system. Now it's just up to other cities in America to tell corporations of all kinds to go pound sand when they come begging for tax goodies. If companies want to build something in an American city or town, they should do it like anyone else — with their own money.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.