
New Jersey giving away the $5B+ farm to lure Amazon - SQL2219
http://fortune.com/2017/10/16/amazon-hq2-new-jersey-newark-jeff-bezos/
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tannhauser23
As a life-long resident of New Jersey, I hope this happens.

Yes, $7 billion in tax incentives is a lot. But it's not like New Jersey /
Newark would be collecting those property/wage taxes if Amazon didn't move in.
But Newark needs help - the city was recently giving away land virtually for
free to entice people to build homes and move in, and even then not many
people took it.

The city is centrally located, accessible by public transit (NJ Transit and
PATH), close to a major airport hub, etc., and despite that there's just no
industry there. The city's been trying very hard to lure tech talent to the
city (and managed to get Amazon's Audible to base itself there). Bringing
Amazon would be a huge win for the city and the state.

And for me, personally, since I could cut an hour off my commute by going to
Newark instead of NYC. So do it, Amazon!

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mcny
I want you to be right but that's simply not the reality on the ground. Our
infrastructure is not very good.

Here is something Path tweeted half an hour ago:

@PATHTrain: Due to a signal problem on the Hackensack River Draw Bridge,
service on NWK-WTC line is subject to a delay. [44]

This is the same panynj that was able to find $4B for a WTC station with a $2B
budget. Almost 100% over budget when we should be spending more on fixing that
bridge signal problem that seems to happen daily...

I have hope. I am not holding my breath.

Update: @PATHTrain: Concerning the earlier signal problem on the Hackensack
River Draw Bridge, service on the NWK-WTC line is resuming normal schedule.
[46]

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tannhauser23
Oh I'll be the last person in the world to defend PATH or NJ Transit. Or the
turnpike for that matter.

But hey, they're something at least, and if you're gonna base 50,000 people in
the Northeast, where else would you go? NJ has the talent, proximity to major
transportation hubs and NYC, and it's willing to make major incentives happen.
Not a bad choice, if you ask me.

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jdhn
The fact that Christie, Booker, and Baraka are able to share a stage together
without petty sniping shows how serious NJ is about winning this bid. That
being said, I feel that this is going to simply act as the bar for other
states to top. We still have 6 days left before the deadline, so I expect
other places to roll out their plans as the week goes by.

I also see no mention of property tax relief. NJ has the highest property
taxes in the country, and as someone who moved out of Jersey (but didn't own a
house), I have no desire to ever pay property taxes at those rates.

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aurizon
Too many companies in NJ have been killed of by militant unionism, plus
tax/pension/wages for civil serpents for Amazon to think of it. Why do you
think NJ is turning to dust

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downrightmike
Also the most polluted air in the states:
[http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/nj_air_ranked_by_cl...](http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/nj_air_ranked_by_cleanair_grou.html)

