Amazon's HQ2 will strip New York of 1,500 new public housing units

Amazon's HQ2 means up to 25,000 new workers could end up in New York City. It also means there will be nearly 5,000 fewer homes for the city's residents.

Queens-based manufacturer Plaxall had developed an in-depth plan to build 4,995 new homes in Long Island City, "1,250 of which developers would have set aside for low- and middle-income New Yorkers," Politico reports. But Amazon's imminent arrival has zapped much of their plans.

On Tuesday, Amazon confirmed it would split its second headquarters between Long Island City, Queens, and Crystal City, Virginia. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio discussed the plan in a press conference later that day, saying that putting "one of the biggest companies on Earth next to the biggest public housing development in the United States — the synergy is going to be extraordinary." The mayor promised to create 300,000 affordable apartments by 2026.

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But the massive Amazon deal doesn't exactly match up with De Blasio's words. Plaxall will be left with just two of the 14.7 acres it originally slated for housing, and the company might just turn those leftovers into office space, Politico says. Another developer will lose space it set aside for 1,000 new units, including 250 that would've been designated as affordable.

Queensbridge public housing residents have mixed feelings about their new neighbors, especially since "the deal does not require Amazon give preferential hiring treatment" to public housing tenants, writes the New York Post. The deal will also cost New York $1.525 billion in tax incentives, leading Long Island City's state Sen. Michael Gianaris to tell Politico "the more we learn about this deal, the worse it gets."