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New York City business owners haunted by Amazon loss amid pandemic
The area in Long Island City where Amazon would’ve built the new headquarters.
In Long Island City, it’s the scar that won’t heal.
Two years after Amazon pulled out from a proposal to build a massive headquarters along the Queens waterfront, the site is a vacant eyesore — and, to many locals, the squandered economic opportunity is even more painful amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The site just sits there empty. It’s terrible,” said Donna Driver, owner of the Matted LIC art gallery and gift store. “We’re in the middle of a pandemic. People say, ‘If we only had Amazon.’ We got nothing.”
The world’s largest e-tailer abruptly cancelled its projected 25,000 job-producing campus after being taken aback by ferocious opposition from the local pols — including democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and state Sen. Mike Gianaris.
Nearly two years later, the massive site remains a desolate reminder of wasted potential, while COVID-19 has ravaged the city’s economy, including the LIC-Western Queens area that would have benefitted from the influx of potential customers into the area. Seething LIC merchants and residents grappling to survive during the pandemic told The Post the loss of Amazon haunts the community even more now.
“It’s really crazy what’s going on. The city has no solutions. We have a do-nothing mayor,” fumed Eric Benaim, CEO of Modern Spaces realty, who resides in the neighborhood and whose office is near the fallow site. “I’m watching AOC selling ‘tax the rich T-shirts’ for $58 while businesses are leaving New York. That’s AOC’s solution. Who is going to pay $58 for a T-shirt when you’re out of a job?” Benaim said.
An alternative project called “Your LIC” that included residential-commercial towers at the site was also recently shot down amid not-in-my-backyard opposition and lack of support from City Hall. The plan claimed it would create 26,000 jobs, open space and cultural amenities.
The Your LIC consortium included manufacturer Plaxall, the major property owner on the waterfront site along with the City of New York.
It wasn’t to be. “Their plans weren’t going to offer enough benefits to the community, and we’re not going to let private developers ignore their obligations to New Yorkers,” said Mitchell Schwartz, a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Driver directed her fury at the local pols for letting down the neighborhood. “AOC, Giannaris, Van Bramer [local councilman Jimmy] — wake up!” she said. “People are leaving. Businesses are closing.” Gianna Cerbone, owner of Manducatis Rustica restaurant, whose family has deep roots in LIC, said “delusional” Democratic Socialists and anti-gentrifiers have hijacked Western Queens — and not for the better. “I’m angry at the stupidity. Everybody fears AOC, who has no idea what she’s doing. Opposing Amazon benefitted other communities. Imagine if AOC did something positive with her big mouth,” Cerbone said. She said Sen. Gianaris, whom she’s known for years, was the most surprising betrayal. “I believed in Gianaris. Mike believed in the community until he went so far up AOC’s ass she couldn’t s–t him out,” the salty restaurateur said.
Bishop Mitchell Taylor, pastor of the Center of Hope International Church near the Queensbridge Houses, said the Amazon debacle followed by the pandemic is a double whammy to LIC’s poorest residents. “It’s like we’re living in the 1970s. Things are worse for poor people now,” Rev. Taylor said. “The Amazon project provided a ray of hope to a lot of people. We didn’t want a handout. The largest public housing project in the country wanted the opportunity to do business with the largest retailer in the country,” he said.
