Amazon is feeling “validated” after a new poll showed New Yorkers continue to support the e-commerce giant’s plan to build its HQ2 campus in Long Island City.
The new Siena College Research Institute poll released Tuesday morning showed that 58 percent of New York City voters approve of the deal that promised to bring 25,000 over 10 years, with a plan to grow to 40,000 over 15 years to a complex that would be built along Anable Basin. Statewide, the poll showed voters approved the Amazon deal, 56 to 36 percent.
“Even as Amazon is said to be reexamining the deal with New York to locate in Queens, by 20 points New York voters approve of the deal,” Siena College Research Institute Director Don Levy said. “Upstate voters are evenly divided but suburban voters strongly approve and in New York City, where some local activists have voiced opposition, voters approve of the deal by 23 points.”
The Siena poll was conducted Feb. 4 to 7 by telephone calls conducted in English to 778 New York state registered voters.
“This is yet another clear validation that New Yorkers want 25,000 great jobs, with great benefits, that Amazon is ready to deliver to the community,” an Amazon spokesperson said. “From construction jobs to software engineer positions, the tens of thousands of jobs we plan to create will be available to residents of all education levels and professional backgrounds, and our new headquarters will help improve the city’s economy for generations to come.”
The poll was released the morning after Mayor Bill de Blasio defended the deal during more than two hours of testimony at a state budget hearing in Albany. The mayor and Governor Andrew Cuomo brokered the Amazon deal offering nearly $3 billion in state and city tax incentives and subsidies.
“We never had a single plan, a single agreement that brought us that many jobs,” de Blasio said. “We need those jobs. We need that revenue.”
The deal is projected to deliver more than $186 billion in economic impact to New York over the next 25 years. Amazon was reportedly reconsidering the project due to opposition from Democratic leaders in Queens, according to the Washington Post.
Cuomo accused the opposition, led by state Senator Michael Gianaris, of committing “governmental malpractice.” On Monday, he told reporters that any project of this side will generate such opposition.
“It’s the nature of the beast,” Cuomo said.
After the results of the Siena poll were released, which build on recent polling by HarrisX, commissioned by Amazon, that shows 80 percent of Queens residents, as well as 77 percent of State Senate District 12 residents which is represented by Gianaris, support the corporation’s move to Long Island City.
“As we continue engaging with our new neighbors — community leaders, tenant advocates, small business owners and neighborhood stakeholders — we’re focused on demonstrating the kind of neighbor we plan to be,” the Amazon spokesperson said. “We’re very appreciative that everyday New Yorkers, both in Queens and across the city, have shown us so much support.”
