Newspaper Page Text
6A Sunday, November 18, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
NATION
Amazon’s NY neighbors: Cynicism, hope for jobs
MARK LENNIHAN I Associated Press
The Queensbridge Houses are near the Ravenswood Generating Station, upper left, Friday, Nov. 16, in New
York. Residents of the New York City public housing complex near the spot where Amazon plans to put a new
headquarters have mixed reaction to the global behemoth coming to the neighborhood.
BY DEEPTI HAJELA
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Shawn Smith has
heard the promises before. When
new hotels sprang up near the
public housing complex in Queens
where he’s lived for 17 years, resi
dents were told they would bring
jobs and economic opportunity.
He hasn’t seen any of it. So he’s
cynical about the announcement
this week that Amazon will build a
headquarters for 25,000 workers
on the Long Island City waterfront,
a half mile from his home. Elected
officials gleefully promised that
Amazon’s presence will buoy all
of western Queens. Smith is not so
sure.
“The hotels here, they’re not hir
ing nobody. They’re bringing their
own kind,” said Smith, who com
mutes to a construction job in New
Jersey. “That’s how I feel about
Amazon.”
His wasn’t the only skeptical
voice among the roughly 6,400 resi
dents of the Queensbridge Houses,
the largest public housing complex
in the U.S.
Residents, most of whom are
black or Hispanic, expressed hope
that there might be something for
them in Amazon’s hiring bonanza
to offset the pressures of neighbor
hood gentrification. But they are
taking the promised opportunity
with a grain of salt.
“Let’s see if they hire from
around here,” said Fontaine White,
54, who has lived in Queensbridge
for eight years. “I think it’s a good
idea, provided you remember we
live here, too. If you put Amazon in
Long Island City, we’re part of Long
Island City.”
City and state officials promised
at least $2.8 billion in tax credits and
grants to lure Amazon to Queens,
where it would occupy a new cam
pus built around a formerly indus
trial boat basin.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo
and New York City Mayor Bill de
Blasio, both Democrats, have her
alded the deal as good for everyone.
De Blasio, who won office on
promises to address the widening
gap between rich and poor in the
city, said Amazon has pledged to
give money for job training pro
grams for public housing residents,
provide space for a new school and
pay into a city fund that will be
used for projects that benefit the
community.
“When you add that kind of num
ber (of jobs) into our economy,
you’re opening a lot of opportunity
for everyday people, ”de Blasio said
Friday during his weekly appear
ance on the Brian Lehrer Show on
WNYC radio. He said Amazon’s
presence would lead to “a lot of jobs
for young people coming out of our
public schools, coming out of public
housing, coming out of city universi
ties. And that’s crucial to addressing
inequality.”
The big government incentives
for Amazon have sharply split the
Democrats who dominate state
politics.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer issued
a statement in support of the deal.
The state’s junior Senator, Kirsten
Gillibrand, tweeted that “one of
the wealthiest companies in his
tory should not be receiving finan
cial assistance from the taxpayers
while too many New York families
struggle to make ends meet.”
The city councilman and state
senator representing Long Island
City are exploring ways to try to
block the subsidies. About 100 peo
ple attended a protest of the deal
this week.
New Yorkers who ride the sub
way through Queens have won
dered how the neighborhood will
handle additional commuters. The
station closest to where Amazon
would be located already has an
average daily ridership of 23,672,
making it among the system’s
busiest.
Queensbridge Houses has also
factored heavily in the public
discussion.
For decades, the 26-building
housing project in the shadow of
the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge
was known for being a rough place.
It factored big in Hip Hop history,
producing talents including Marley
Marl, Roxanne Shante, Nas, and
Havoc of the rap duo Mobb Deep.
Crime has abated substantially in
recent years. Queensbridge was cel
ebrated for going nearly two years
without a shooting before the streak
ended in 2017. But like most New
York City housing projects, resi
dents complain of poor conditions,
unreliable heat and hot water, and
rats and roaches.
The same week officials cel
ebrated their willingness to let
Amazon avoid billions of dollars
in taxes, a federal judge rejected
a consent decree that would have
had the city pay $1 billion over four
years and an additional $200 mil
lion annually for the following six
years to fix deplorable conditions
in public housing, saying it didn’t go
far enough.
There are “a lot of issues with
housing not fixing things, not doing
things,” said Lisa Cruz, 40, an office
manager who has lived in Queens
bridge for 12 years. “It’s really
bad.”
Trump administration denies reaching conclusion on Khashoggi
BY DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Trump
administration denied on Saturday
that it had reached a final determi
nation in the death of Saudi writer
Jamal Khashoggi.
After President Donald Trump
called his CIA chief and top dip
lomat from Air Force One as he
flew to survey wildfire damage
in California, the State Depart
ment released a statement saying
“recent reports indicating that the
U.S. government has made a final
conclusion are inaccurate.”
American intelligence agencies
have concluded that Saudi
Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman ordered the
killing in the Saudi Consul
ate in Turkey, according
to a U.S. official familiar
with the assessment. The
official was not authorized
to discuss the matter pub
licly and spoke on condi
tion of anonymity Friday.
The conclusion was first reported
by The Washington Post.
The Saudi government has
denied the claim.
Department spokeswoman
Heather Nauert said in the state
ment Saturday that the govern
ment was “determined to
hold all those responsible
for the killing of Jamal
Khashoggi accountable”
and that “there remain
numerous unanswered
questions with respect to
the murder.”
She said the department
“will continue to seek
all relevant facts” and
consult with Congress and other
nations “to hold accountable those
involved in the killing.”
Trump spoke earlier with CIA
Director Gina Haspel and Secre
tary of State Mike Pompeo from
Air Force One, press secretary
Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. She
provided no details but said the
president has confidence in the
CIA.
Trump told reporters before
he left the White House for Cali
fornia that, when it came to the
crown prince, “as of this moment
we were told that he did not play a
role. We’re going to have to find out
what they have to say. ”
In his remarks, the president
spoke of Saudi Arabia as “a truly
spectacular ally in terms of jobs
and economic development.”
“I have to take a lot of things
into consideration” when deciding
what measures to take against the
kingdom, he said.
The State Department statement
noted the administration’s recent
actions against a number of Saudis,
but also cited the need to maintain
“the important strategic relation
ship” between the two allies.
The intelligence agencies’ con
clusion will bolster efforts in Con
gress to further punish the close
U.S. ally for the killing. The admin
istration this past week penalized
17 Saudi officials for their alleged
role in the killing, but American
lawmakers have called on the
administration to curtail arms
sales to Saudi Arabia or take other
harsher punitive measures.
Khashoggi
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