Amazon Deal Adds Inequality

Last month, the city and state announced a package of nearly $3 billion in incentives to bring Amazon.com, Inc. to Queens, where it will build its second headquarters. Both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo call it a win for New York. We hope they are right, but union members should be cautious.

This is money that isn’t going to NYC Health+Hospitals, the Housing Authority, the Department of Health, NYC Transit, and infrastructure repairs—where it could create thousands of permanent, good-paying union jobs that would actually bolster New York’s economy instead of possibly burdening it. The money could also be spent on the growing ranks of homeless New Yorkers, some of whom are in fact full-time city and state employees, as well as the nearly 115,000 homeless New York City public school children.