Amazon announced Thursday that they would scrap plans for a new headquarters in New York City. Officials in Arlington, Virginia, said they don’t expect that move will have any effect on Virginia’s HQ2. The county board chairman said he wasn’t interested in absorbing extra jobs locally. News4’s Julie Carey lays it all out.
What to Know
- Amazon has canceled its plans to build a headquarters in Long Island City and will not search for another location
- In a statement Thursday, the tech behemoth said it had come to the decision after "much thought and deliberation"
- Amazon is still moving forward with its plans for a headquarters in Crystal City, as well as an operation center in Nashville
Amazon has canceled its plans to build an additional headquarters in New York, and says the company will not search for another location, leaving Northern Virginia as its sole pick for HQ2.
In a statement Thursday, the tech behemoth said it had come to the decision after "much thought and deliberation."
Amazon cited opposition from politicians as fueling its decision to pull out of plans in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens.
“While polls show that 70 percent of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City,” the company said.
Amazon said HQ2 plans in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, will "proceed as planned."
"Nothing has changed," Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said in a statement Thursday.
"After speaking with an Amazon representative earlier today, we have confirmed that we are moving forward as planned with Amazon’s upcoming headquarters in Arlington," Dorsey said.
In an interview later in the day, he said he was not interested in having Northern Virginia absorb more Amazon jobs.
Amazon was met with fierce opposition in New York after announcing in November that it would split a second headquarters between Northern Virginia and New York.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Virginia lawmakers gave Amazon a warmer welcome. Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation that would carry out the state's promise of up to $750 million in incentives if Amazon creates almost 38,000 jobs in Arlington County.
The legislation establishes a fund to receive and distribute $550 million in incentives for the creation of 25,000 jobs by Amazon in the first phase of its HQ2 project in Arlington.
People who live in the area have expressed concern that the Virginia HQ2 will create traffic nightmares and price out longtime residents and businesses.
"People don't understand that everything will get more expensive. Everything's going to go up. We're talking about rent, household goods, food, everything. Not just the rent," said Teofila Gomez.
For 17 years, Gomez has lived about half a mile from Amazon's proposed Northern Virginia site, in the low-income, working-class community of Chirilagua.
See all of NBC Washington's coverage of Amazon HQ2 in Northern Virginia here.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
