Republicans & Democrats Clash Over Corporate Deals, Broome Hopes for Amazon Relationship

Broome County Executive Garnar has been writing to Amazon, hoping to develop a relationship that would mean future investment while leaders in Albany clash over procedures that could save or sink future corporate deals.

Broome's effort to woo Amazon started with a letter from the Executive appealing to the multi-million dollar company to open a headquarters in Greater Binghamton after state and local officials downstate rejected tax incentives and questioned the impact of the Amazon HQ2 project on housing values and traffic in Long Island City.

Now, Democrats in the New York State Senate are rejecting a proposal from Republicans concerning Public Authorities Control Board voting that the GOP says could have saved the Amazon headquarters project in Queens and ensure the success of future big deals.

Members of the Republican Conference had proposed an amendment to remove the veto power on the PACP that they blamed for sinking the Amazon project.  The amendment would have replaced a unanimous vote requirement with a majority vote by PACP appointees.

Contrary to reports featuring scenes of demonstrators protesting around the proposed project site in Queens, Senate Republicans cited an unspecified poll saying 70% of the public supported the Amazon HQ2 plan.

Back in Broome County, officials say while Amazon has not taken Garnar up on his invitation to move the massing headquarters project and its 25,000 jobs upstate, the Executive has had followup correspondence with Amazon executives to discuss possible future opportunities in the area.