Cyber Monday Protests Target Amazon's Move To NYC

LONG ISLAND CITY, NY — Backlash to Amazon's planned move to Long Island City will continue into the holiday shopping season with protests set for Cyber Monday. Activists plan to decry the trillion-dollar company virtually and in person as it and other online retailers try to lure consumers with big discounts.

A slate of activist groups, including Make the Road New York and New York Communities for Change, plan to rally at Court Square Park Monday evening to condemn the billions of dollars in incentives Amazon will get for bringing one of its two new headquarters to Queens.

"Rather than creating good jobs for the community this deal will displace existing residents," organizers of the protest wrote on Facebook. "We do not need nor want Amazon in our barrio."

Another group opposing the company's move, the Queens Anti-Gentrification Project, is encouraging people to boycott Amazon on "a fake holiday promoted by the tech giants." That includes refraining from shopping on the site on Cyber Monday and canceling Amazon Prime accounts, the group says.

The protests are part of the vocal opposition to the Amazon deal that has emerged since the company announced its decision on Nov. 13 to site new headquarters in Long Island City and a suburb of Washington, D.C. Amazon is expected to bring at least 25,000 high-paying jobs to New York, helped by nearly $3 billion in tax breaks and other incentives, officials say.

In an atypical show of unity, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have touted the record-setting deal as a boon for the city and state economies. The project is expected to eventually generate more than $27 billion in tax revenue, and Amazon will help fund infrastructure investments in Long Island City, officials have said.

Joining activists in fighting the deal are several elected officials, including some who signed a letter last year urging Amazon to settle in New York.

State Sen. Michael Gianaris and City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who represent Long Island City, said Tuesday that they won't join a so-called community advisory council on the development, which they said only aims to validate a project they're trying to halt.

"This Community Advisory Council is a thinly veiled attempt to present the Amazon development as a fait accompli and move the discussion towards how to accommodate their entrance to the community," the Democratic lawmakers said in a statement. "As we have made abundantly clear, we oppose the deal to bring Amazon to Long Island City and continue to fight against it."

(Lead image: Boxes showing the Amazon logo as a frown are seen at a protest against the company's move to Long Island City on Nov. 14, 2018. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)