Amazon announced Long Island City in Queens, New York, and Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia, as the new sites for its second headquarters, a project it dubbed HQ2 when it announced a site search in September 2017.
Amazon says it will now invest a combined $5B into these markets and expects to create at least 50,000 jobs across the two new locations.
The announcement inspired varied reactions. We've selected some of the more interesting takes from Twitter.
"A decision like putting a full headquarters in a place like Newark or Pittsburgh would have required a decision based...on emotion. And for those who have followed Jeff Bezos’s company closely, that’s not the way Amazon" has been built.
— Jason Del Rey (@DelRey) November 13, 2018
https://t.co/KoMjszBPgb
Toronto Mayor @JohnTory: "Our (Amazon) bid, which did not include any special tax incentives, highlighted our strengths"
— Jeannie Lee@CBC (@JeannieLee88) November 13, 2018
The consolation prize: The bid book has been downloaded "17,000 times around the world by people considering Toronto to locate or grow their businesses.$AMZN https://t.co/bxn1FyqZJX
Crystal City is going to provide another $573 million. So this is a total of at least $3 billion in subsidies to one of the richest companies on Earth, whose CEO is the richest man on Earth. To attract business facilities it was already going to locate in these metro areas.
— David Dayen (@ddayen) November 13, 2018
New York taxpayers will be forced to literally subsidize a HELIPAD for Jeff Bezos https://t.co/WuOBIHHU7M pic.twitter.com/UiYdq5gdjf
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) November 13, 2018
Under agreement between Amazon and Virginia, the commonwealth will give the company written notice about any FOIA requests "to allow the
— Benjamin Freed (@brfreed) November 13, 2018
Company to seek a protective order or other appropriate remedy" pic.twitter.com/BkVXdnoX2M
#Amazon’s Move to Long Island City Sparks Condo Frenzy | Brokers say they are selling Long Island units via text message, sometimes sight unseen https://t.co/ExZ4A6CFOt via @WSJ #cre
— Ken Ashley (@kenashley) November 13, 2018
Good news/bad news for New York: This Amazon hiring is going to be steady rather than big bang. 700 jobs in 2019 pic.twitter.com/RNyO1teHTQ
— Shira Ovide (@ShiraOvide) November 13, 2018
Amazon is a billion-dollar company. The idea that it will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks at a time when our subway is crumbling and our communities need MORE investment, not less, is extremely concerning to residents here.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 13, 2018
There's a lot of talk about the nyc subway but I'd like to see what Amazon does on the East River. ⛴️ $AMZN https://t.co/H4ysEvdOzO
— Baz Hiralal (@_BizBaz) November 13, 2018
Amazon is splitting #HQ2 between NY and Virginia. Here's why moving to Virginia is a strategic move in the #JEDI Pentagon cloud contract race: https://t.co/nfJ769wMUZ
— Rosalie Chan (@rosaliechan17) November 13, 2018
Crystal City can easily deliver Amazon the two things its RFP clearly prioritized: a large pool of people to hire, and large office spaces to put them into. https://t.co/OEfrtFoP6v #AmazonHQ2
— ULI Washington (@ULIWashington) November 13, 2018
You overpaid. https://t.co/2juW4HOnnP
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) November 13, 2018
Today, I issued the following statement following @amazon's announcement that locations in #NorthernVirginia and #NewYork have been selected for headquarters facilities: pic.twitter.com/CjGPCRoLuZ
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) November 13, 2018
My statement on @Amazon’s #HQ2 decision: pic.twitter.com/Ty7220jgFa
— Steve Case (@SteveCase) November 13, 2018
Amazon's press release says its Crystal City facilities in Arlington, Va., will be called "National Landing" -- because it's near where planes land at National Airport? https://t.co/PSTtin4ja5 pic.twitter.com/QbiXJRb9EN
— Tim Hanrahan (@TimJHanrahan) November 13, 2018
omg Amazon is rebranding Crystal City as “National Landing.” This is the description. It is literally Crystal City. pic.twitter.com/2NrHtDgf1g
— Benjamin Freed (@brfreed) November 13, 2018
Seattle's growth since the recession might as well be called the Amazon Boom.
— Matt Day (@mattmday) November 13, 2018
When HQ2 and 3 get going back east in a couple years, the city is in for a big change: https://t.co/omcxAMP0N9
Amazon's FAQ does, uh, little to address its future in Seattle or how HQ1 will play with HQ2/3.
— Matt Day (@mattmday) November 13, 2018
"We have this many employees and as of this second this many open positions. That will be all, thank you." pic.twitter.com/rdkJHjgK6G
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