Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Thursday 15 November 2018
Amazon HQ favorites: Similar basics, different vibes

By JENNIFER PELTZ than in any other New York
MATTHEW BARAKAT City neighborhood, ac-
Associated Press cording to the city Planning
NEW YORK (AP) — The com- Department . Thousands
munities said to be favored more units are in the works.
to become homes to a New York has striven for
pair of big, new East Coast nearly a decade to posi-
bases for Amazon are both tion itself as a tech hotspot.
riverfront stretches of ma- Venture capitalists poured
jor metropolitan areas with $5.8 billion into New York-
ample transportation and area startups last quarter,
space for workers. more than any other region
But there are plenty of dif- except the San Francisco
ferences between New area, according to the
York's Long Island City and consulting and accounting
Crystal City in northern Vir- firm PwC . Established tech
ginia. giants, including Google
Set within eyeshot of the and Facebook, have been
nation's capital, Crystal City expanding their New York
is a thicket of 1980s-era of- footprints.
fice towers trying to plug Still, landing HQ2 would
into new economic energy represent "incredible vali-
after thousands of federal In this Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018, photo, traffic moves along 44th Drive in Long Island City, dation of just how far New
jobs moved elsewhere. Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018, in the Queens borough of New York. York has come," says Jona-
Rapidly growing Long Is- Associated Press than Bowles, executive di-
land City is an old manu- nership, a neighborhood this, but HQ2 has to work the MoMA PS1 museum. rector of the Center for an
facturing area already be- development group. for Queens and the peo- Silvercup Studios — where Urban Future think tank.
ing reinvented as a hub for But Long Island City also ple of Queens. It can't just such TV shows as "Sex and Waiting for a subway, Long
21st-century industry, cre- has been straining to han- be good for Amazon," says the City," ''30 Rock" and Island City community
ativity and urbane living. dle its growth. van Bramer, a Democrat. "The Sopranos" have been board chairwoman Denise
Seattle-based Amazon, Days before the potential Once a bustling factory filmed — opened in 1983. Keehan-Smith could envi-
which set out last year Amazon news emerged, and freight-moving area, Long Island City gained a sion Amazon benefiting the
to situate one additional the city announced a $180 Long Island City saw many new commercial stature, neighborhood.
headquarters but now may million plan to address of its plants and warehous- and the start of a high-rise "But I think we have to be
reportedly open two, has Long Island City's packed es closed as manufacturing skyline, when the bank- careful about it," she said.
declined to comment on schools, street design and a shriveled in New York City. ing giant now called Citi CRYSTAL CITY
its plans. But people familiar sewage system that groans The neighborhood's re- opened an office tower If any place in America
with the talks said this week in heavy rain. But those birth began in the 1980s, there in 1989. But the area's can absorb 25,000 Ama-
that Long Island City and projects will just catch up when officials broached growth lately has been zon jobs without disruption,
Crystal City have emerged with current needs, says redeveloping a swath of driven by residential build- it may well be Crystal City,
as front runners for the area City Councilman Jim- the waterfront, while artists ing. Virginia, where nearly that
"HQ2" project and its total my van Bramer. were drawn by warehouse Some 9,150 new apart- many jobs have vanished
of 50,000 jobs. "I know that there are a lot spaces, affordable rents ments and homes have over the last 15 years.
A look at two communities of people cheerleading for and a building that is now been built since 2010, more The neighborhood in Ar-
said to be at the top of Am- lington County is bounded
azon's list. by the Potomac River and
LONG ISLAND CITY the nation's capital on one
It's already the fastest-de- side, by the Pentagon on
veloping neighborhood in another and Reagan Na-
the nation's most populous tional Airport on a third.
city, and Amazon could Despite its prime location
pump up the volume in this and abundant transporta-
buzzy part of Queens. tion options, the neighbor-
If chosen, the neighbor- hood has been hit by a
hood stands to burnish New massive outflow of jobs.
York City's reputation as a The Patent and Trademark
tech capital. Landing Am- Office began moving more
azon would also cement than 7,000 jobs out of Crys-
Long Island City's transfor- tal City in 2003. In 2005, the
mation from a faded manu- Defense Department an-
facturing zone to a vibrant, nounced plans to move
of-the-moment enclave roughly 17,000 jobs else-
of waterfront skyscrapers, where as part of a base re-
modernized warehouses alignment.
and artsy-tech ambience Arlington County has
across the East River from worked hard to bring in
midtown Manhattan. new employers, and had
"I joke that we're experi- some success.
encing explosive growth 30 In this Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018, photo, the Long Island City waterfront and skyline are shown in The Public Broadcasting
years in the making," says the Queens borough of New York. One of the areas that Amazon is considering for a headquarters Service moved its head-
is Long Island City.
Elizabeth Lusskin, president Associated Press quarters to Crystal City in
of the Long Island City Part- 2006.q