
Dear Amazon, NYC doesn’t want you - mprev
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/09/amazon-new-york-jeff-bezos-long-island-city
======
greenyoda
> _We’ve already got Wall Street – must we be flooded with rich techies on top
> of that?_

Speaking as a long-time NYC resident, I'm glad that the income taxes that
these "rich techies" pay will help NYC provide services for the less
fortunate. Our infrastructure - roads, bridges, subways, public housing - is
crumbling, and an increased tax base can only help. People with money also
spend it on local businesses, which provides jobs for other people.

Also, techies aren't really "rich" by NYC standards. Software developers
aren't the ones buying up the new $10 million apartments that are going up all
over the city, or even the old apartments on Park Avenue. And not everyone who
works at Amazon is a techie anyway.

Finally, NYC has a population of 8M and the metro area has a population of
20M. Adding 20K "techies" isn't going to make a big difference in our
demographics.

------
eggy
I was born and raised in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and lived in other
neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn for many years. I wound up going
overseas for eight years, and when I came back the biggest thing I noticed was
sort of a "cultural appropriation" of Brooklyn by people who only moved to
Brooklyn, and have lived there long enough to open a business and put
"Brooklyn" in the business name or on their product. I passed by some hipster
clothing and other accessories shop on Fifth Ave. in NYC in the 30's or 40's
with Brooklyn in the title, and it made me wonder what selling power it
conveyed. I am of the generation where I worked on losing my Brooklyn accent
to better my chances of getting a job in the early 80s. When I was working
outside of the U.S., acquaintances thought I should hook up with a worker from
Brooklyn for some camaraderie. I met her and asked where she was from in
Brooklyn, only to quickly find out she was from LA, CA, and had lived only for
3 or 5 years in Park Slope Brooklyn. I didn't call her on it. Later I walked
away from our conversation wondering what would drive somebody to say they
were from Brooklyn when one, they no longer lived there, and two, they only
lived there a few years. I wonder if the author Hamilton Nolan is born and
bred, or a Brooklyn or NYC transplant. Of course, I really don't care, since I
don't have any dibs on "Brooklyn". I just find it interesting, and want to
understand the phenomenon. And as a note, I never felt like people from Jersey
or finance workers invaded my turf.

~~~
speedplane
I was raised in NYC too and also used to get irritated by transplants claiming
some MYC identity as their own. But then I realized that what makes NYC
special is that people come here from all over. It is the transplants that
make the city so dynamic.

Changing neighborhoods and cultures is the price we pay for that.

Brooklyn is now more known for artisanal candles and soaps than working class
grit, but I’m okay with that.

~~~
eggy
The shops with Brooklyn in their name don't irritate me, or transplants. I am
glad things look less gritty, although, I don't want to go too Disney or
Normal Rockwell here ;)

After all, I am a mutt, and at some point on my father's side, his father was
from either the Ukraine or Poland depending on the borders at the time, and
settled in the Lower East Side. My grandmother, my mom's mom, was from
Ireland. My (4x) great grandfather on my father's side was from Scotland and
fought with George Washington in the Revolutionary War.

I was confused and curious at the same time on why someone who was born and
grew up in LA, lived in Brooklyn only for two or three years or their 35 year
old life, then back to LA before I had this conversation with her, would
answer "Where are you from?", with "Brooklyn". She had been in SE Asia for a
couple of years by then too. She also seemed like she got caught in a lie when
this came up with me. Chameleon?

~~~
speedplane
Maybe Chameleon, or maybe she just identified with Brooklyn more than the
other places she lived. She may not be an authentic Brooklyn-ite, but it’s a
testament to the dynamism of NYC that she identifies with it most.

------
knlinux
> [Referring to Amazon] "Its owner should have his immoral hoard of wealth
> forcibly expropriated by the state before his power grows so great that all
> of society is warped by it. Jeff Bezos’s money should immediately be put to
> use helping the public; (...)"

As someone that once lived under a system, which used to do that in eastern
Europe, it is absolutely bizarre to see this being written by an American
journalist. I guess you don't know how good you have it until you lose it.

------
HissingMachine
This opinion piece is really bizarre, how this kind of mentality turns from
abhorrent to great when your target is supposed "rich techies"? The writer
must understand the economic advantages of having productive and well-paid
professionals moving in your neighborhood, the problems that arise from a
sudden influx of people are merely infrastructure problems that will be fixed
over time, with the tax revenue they bring with them, it's called a happy
problem. You can't plan for it in advance because it's not economically
feasible to add Metro lines just in case someone decides to build a campus
somewhere in the city. If this line of thinking is fine, then you really can't
argue with anti-immigration rhetoric since theirs is largely the same,
irrational fear and hatred for change in a world that is constantly moving but
would rather forego any long-term benefits because it inconveniences you in
the now and shakes your precious culture you value over anything else.

------
danzig13
I’m glad to see someone else expressing annoyance at the special class citizen
status awarded to companies and pointing out this whole city selection process
as bullshit.

They were just trying to get the cities they already picked to make
concessions.

