NYC Amazon Deal To Be Scrutinized At City Council Hearings

NEW YORK CITY HALL — While the City Council does not have binding authority over Amazon's planned move to Queens, lawmakers plan to scrutinize the deal at a series of upcoming hearings.

Amazon's decision to open one of its new headquarters in Long Island City has been met with skepticism and outrage from many, including Council members upset with the clandestine nature of the negotiations.

In an effort to elicit more answers about the deal, lawmakers will hold three committee hearings over the next few months to examine the project, its merit and its impact on the community, Speaker Corey Johnson's office announced Friday.

"I wish I didn’t have to have these hearings, but there are a lot of unanswered questions and I believe the public has the right to know more," Johnson, a Chelsea Democrat, said in a statement.

The Economic Development Committee will examine how the deal developed at the first hearing on Dec. 12 at City Hall, Johnson's office said. The Finance Committee will then focus on whether the deal is good for the city and state at a second hearing slated for January.

The third hearing in the Land Use Committee, likely to take place in February, will assess the Amazon site's impact on the neighborhood, according to Johnson's office.

Officials from Amazon and agencies involved in brokering the deal — the city's Economic Development Corporation and the state's Empire State Development — are expected to attend, a spokeswoman for Johnson said.

"We appreciate and value the City Council’s interest in this important project and look forward to joining them for this conversation," Stephanie Baez, an EDC spokeswoman, said in a statement.

Amazon's new headquarters is expected to bring the city 25,000 jobs paying more than $150,000 on average. The project, supported by nearly $3 billion in tax breaks and grants, will be developed through a state-led process called a general project plan and will not require City Council approval as other local land-use matters do.

Some Council members have condemned that process and criticized local officials' exclusion from the talks. Lawmakers have also objected to the fact that Amazon, a trillion-dollar company, is getting such generous incentives.

"The process by which this deal came about troubled me from the start, and I have serious concerns about the subsidies," Johnson said. "I am looking forward to getting answers."

Johnson's office announced the hearings a day after three councilmen — including Jimmy Van Bramer, who represents Long Island City — threw their support behind legislation to bar the city from entering agreements shielding negotiation details from the public.

The EDC and Empire State Development both signed a pact with Amazon, known as a non-disclosure agreement, to keep parts of their talks secret.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have touted the Amazon deal as an economic boon. The headquarters will ultimately generate more than $27 billion in tax revenue over 25 years, officials say. The agreement also includes several community benefits, such as job training programs, public green space and money to be set aside for infrastructure improvements.

De Blasio, a Democrat, said he would continue to push Amazon to do more for the city. If the company's economic incentives will be "suspended" if it doesn't hold up its end of the deal, he said.

"When you come to a basic agreement it doesn’t mean the larger discussions are over," de Blasio said Friday on WNYC. "I’m going to push them to be a positive part of the community, and I’m going to push them to use their capacity to open up opportunity for people."

(Lead image: Council Speaker Corey Johnson is seen on. Nov. 29, 2018. Photo by John McCarten/New York City Council)