New York leaders urge Amazon CEO to reconsider headquarters plan in New York

A group of leaders from New York's political, business and local communities issued an open letter Friday, urging Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to reconsider his decision not to carry out a plan to build a second headquarters in New York.

Kathryn Wilde, Partnership for New York City president and CEO, poses outside City Hall holding a letter to Amazon published in the New York Times, Friday March 1, 2019, in New York. Wilde joined a coalition of business, government, community and labor interests calling on Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos to reconsider building a campus in New York. [Photo: AP/Bebeto Matthews]

In the letter published by The New York Times on Friday, the leaders said New Yorkers want the 25,000 permanent jobs to be generated from Amazon's original plan to build the second headquarters in Long Island City.

The Amazon project will also bring the city 11,000 union construction and maintenance jobs, as well as 28 billion U.S. dollars in new tax revenues, they said.

"A clear majority of New Yorkers support this project and were disappointed by your decision not to proceed," said the leaders in the open letter to Bezos.

They admitted that public debate "was rough and not very welcoming" after Amazon announced the Long Island City project.

However, "we urge you to reconsider so that we can move forward together," said the leaders.

They noted that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will take personal responsibility for the project's approval, in addition to the support of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Signatories to the letter included Carolyn Maloney, U.S. representative from New York's 12th congressional district, State University of New York Chancellor Kristina Johnson, and the heads of Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Mastercard and JetBlue Airways.

Seattle-based Amazon announced its decision on Feb. 14 to scrap the New York campus plan due to strong opposition from some state and local politicians.