Tech company says it has ‘decided not to move forward’ with giant campus in Queens

Amazon has cancelled its plans for a new headquarters in New York City following a torrent of local political opposition.

“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,” the company said in a statement.

“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.”

Amazon announced its plans for a new secondary campus late last year, but said political reaction caused it to reconsider.

“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,” the company said.

Amazon ran a competition among cities in North America vying to host its second headquarters, and chose New York and Arlington, Virginia. The company will not reopen the contest, but will proceed with the Virginia plan, where it got a much warmer welcome, officials said. “We do not intend to reopen the HQ2 search at this time,” the company’s statement said.

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The tech giant was planning a waterfront campus in Queens where it would employ 25,000 people, and get $3bn in subsidies and tax breaks from the state and city. It was supported by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and the governor, Andrew Cuomo.

De Blasio condemned the company’s decision to pull out, saying it wasn’t tough enough to stand up to the heat.

“You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity,” he said Thursday. “We have the best talent in the world and every day we are growing a stronger and fairer economy for everyone. If Amazon can’t recognize what that’s worth, its competitors will.”

But Cuomo directed his ire at opponents. “A small group of politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community – which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City – the state’s economic future and the best interests of the people of this state,” he said. “The New York state senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity.”

Local politicians and activists railed against the project. A leading opponent, state senator Michael Gianaris, was appointed last week to a state board with veto power over the project. That posed a regulatory hurdle to a deal that had been engineered to avoid the usual lengthy approval process including a vote in the city council.

“Defeating an anti-union corporation that mistreats workers and assists Ice [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] in terrorizing immigrant communities is a victory. Defeating an unprecedented act of corporate welfare is a triumph that should change the way we do economic development deals in our city and state forever,” said city councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, a Democrat who represents Long Island City.

Amazon, which had considered its headquarters a prize for cities to compete for, folded with remarkable speed in face of the opposition, announcing it was pulling out just three months after launching the plan.

“This whole process shows why Amazon would have been a bad partner for New York. Rather than engage with the community that would be most affected by their project, they instead decide to pack up and leave like a petulant child,” Gianaris told the Guardian.

Its plans were met with marches and rallies in opposition, and Amazon executives further angered opponents by declaring at a City Council hearing that they would oppose any effort by employees to unionize. A helipad that authorities agreed to let the company add to its campus was blasted as an extravagant perk.

Supporters and opponents had girded for a long fight, and many saw warnings that Amazon was reconsidering its plans as a threat intended to quiet critics. Instead, the company quickly chose to abandon the plan, which it had not purchased property for. Its agreements with the city and state were non-binding.

• This article was amended on 6 March 2019 to clarify that Amazon’s search for HQ2 was not limited to cities in the US, but for those in North America.