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Amazon Abruptly Pulls Out Of Plans For NYC Headquarters, And The Jokes Are Flowing

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Amazon announced on Thursday that it was canceling plans for its new headquarters in New York City after push-back from politicians and the surrounding community. Queens was selected out of 20 cities last year following a fierce bidding war spearheaded by Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who worked together despite differences to appeal for the tech giant to come to the city.

Although the move would have created more than 25,000 jobs, union leaders were resistant to the deal which would have provided Amazon with $3 billion in subsidies. The company cited unwillingness from state and local politicians as reason for pulling out of the deal in a statement:

After much thought and deliberation, we’ve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens. For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term. While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.

As word got around of the news, people naturally began making jokes on Twitter, particularly when you factor in that they dropped this bomb on Valentine’s Day, of all dates.

https://twitter.com/alexjamesfitz/status/1096097436551008258

Others made jokes at the expense of real estate investors who are completely boned now that the deal has fallen through:

https://twitter.com/pattymo/status/1096095544781557760

https://twitter.com/mekosoff/status/1096094866147364865

Some are also giving newly-minted freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez credit for Amazon’s 180:

https://twitter.com/harrysiegel/status/1096092371538853894

Chicago, Miami, and Newark, which were all initially passed over, have expressed renewed interest in housing Amazon this week, as there were rumblings that the deal may fall through. It’s too early to tell what the company will ultimately decide on, but it should be interesting to watch the mad scramble.