Amazon selects Long Island City, New York (in addition to Crystal City, Virgina) for its second headquarters location (HQ2). Preliminary targets aim at the creation of 25,000 jobs and initial expansion of 500,000 square feet of office space.
Amazon successfully chicane(d) 20 cities and 240 municipalities on bring the HQ2 to their location. Mayors, business leaders, and other communities ponied up a serious changes to WOO big lovely Amazon: promises of new transit lines, billions in tax incentives, real estate expansion, and more.
New York City dropped $180 million on Long Island City in new spending to bolster transit, fix the sewer system and attract new, good-paying jobs. Half of the city’s proposed new spending, about $95 million, is for sewers. This is like just the start as the plans and development become more concrete as the roll out begins.
Long Island City Announced
Major infrastructure, economic, and housing changes are already in motion.There have been 41 new apartment buildings built in LIC since 2010. Last year, more new apartments were built in Long Island City than in any other neighborhood in New York.Grant Long, a senior economist for StreetEasy, says that housing prices have already risen by 5 percent in Queens this year.Long Island City is already the priciest neighborhood in Queens: The median rent in the borough’s northwestern section, which includes LIC, is just under $3,000/month, according to the latest Douglas Elliman market report.
Long Island City is served by a few subway lines, with only one—the 7—providing a link to major Manhattan hubs like Grand Central-42nd Street or Times Square. And service on the 7, as any regular commuter will tell you, is often packed during rush hour.
M.T.A./L.I.R.R. and Amtrak are working on a feasibility study to create a new rail station in Sunnyside Yard at Queens Boulevard. The northern part of the neighborhood is also home to the Queensbridge Houses. HQ2’s arrival could also renew momentum for the Brooklyn Queens Connector, the developer-friendly streetcar that would provide a direct link between those two boroughs along the East River waterfront.
Effects of Amazon’s headquarters on cultural institutions, surrounding manufacturing operations, and other local businesses remains unclear. With bike lanes already in place and likely to expand further up through Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, the environment is ripe for high tech hipsters to expand over the next few years.
Current Social Radar seems Bleak on Morale:
“I’ll change my name to Amazon Cuomo if that’s what it takes,” Governor Cuomo said. “Because it would be a great economic boost.” @NYGovCuomo – Economic boost the 7 Train, thanks, and try to preserve the existing community rather than let Williamsburg clone show up in Queens.
— ItsAnewDay (@AbdusDaMAN) November 7, 2018
Food for thought
Moving from the Northwest, Amazon will be able to recruit a “different collection of employees”.
People of interest: Nas | Mobb Deep.
sources:
https://ny.curbed.com/2018/11/6/18066802/amazon-hq2-new-york-long-island-city-finalist
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/05/technology/amazon-second-headquarters-spqQlit.html
https://www.geekwire.com/2018/report-amazon-will-split-hq2-long-island-city-queens-crystal-city-dc/
