Amazon reportedly kept a 'burn book' of all the mean things politicians said about it during the HQ2 fight with New York City
- Amazon executives and New York politicians weren't able to make things work for the company's planned second headquarters in Long Island City, Queens.
- The company officially pulled out of negotiations on February 14.
- According to a new report in The Wall Street Journal, Amazon maintained a "burn book" of all the mean things that politicians and political operatives said publicly about the company.
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In a move that Regina George would appreciate, Amazon reportedly kept a "burn book" of all the negative things politicians, union leaders, and other prominent New York City political operatives said publicly amid negotiations for Amazon to build a second headquarters ("HQ2").
The Wall Street Journal reportedly saw the "burn book," which is kept in a Microsoft Word document file, and published an account on Wednesday of what it saw. The document is said to include politicians like Democratic Sen. Mike Gianaris and New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, and political operatives like Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union president Stuart Appelbaum.
All three were openly critical of Amazon's plan to bring its new headquarters to Queens neighborhood Long Island City.
Those plans eventually fell apart - Amazon officially confirmed the cancellation in a letter on February 14.
"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 letter from Amazon said. "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."
Amazon's plans included the promise to create approximately 25,000 new jobs in New York City, and both Mayor De Blasio and Governor Cuomo touted long-term tax revenue increases in support of the move. Critics pointed to what New York City and State were giving up in the process: $3 billion in tax breaks and circumvention of the land-use process.
According to the report, neither Mayor De Blasio nor Governor Cuomo ended up in Amazon's "burn book." Amazon representatives didn't respond to a request for comment as of publishing.
Check out the full piece in the Wall Street Journal right here.