Amazon HQ2 destroys plan to build 1,500 affordable housing units in New York City
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Blowback has been fierce ever since the announcement that online mega-giant retailer Amazon would be receiving billions of dollars in subsidies to build one of two new headquarters in Long Island City, New York. Besides questions surrounding the companyAmazon HQ2 destroys plan to build 1,500 affordable housing units in New York City
Blowback has been fierce ever since the announcement that online mega-giant retailer Amazon would be receiving billions of dollars in subsidies to build one of two new headquarters in Long Island City, New York. Besides questions surrounding the company’s labor practices, the fact that the multi-billion-dollar company, headed by the wealthiest man in the world, needed to be paid off to locate in the City That Never Sleeps has infuriated many. Politico reports that, on top of the huge price tag, two of the sites that will house Amazon were slated for affordable-housing development. Plaxall, which owns land around the Anable Basin, was prepared to ask New York City for permission to build up to 4,995 new homes on a 14.7-acre site on the East River, 1,250 of which developers would have set aside for low- and middle-income New Yorkers. Most of that site will now be subsumed into Amazon’s office campus. A small portion of it — about two acres — can still be used for housing because it won’t be part of Amazon’s campus. But Plaxall hasn’t decided if it wants apartments or office space there, and either way, it won’t be able to accommodate nearly as many homes as originally planned. Read more