Amazon brass kept a “burn book” to memorialize unkind comments made by those who opposed the online retail giant’s headquarters move to New York before pulling the plug on the project, it was revealed Wednesday.
The Microsoft Word document called “NY Negative Statements” was filled with criticism from officials and neighbors, who said the move to Queens would send real estate prices soaring — and that it wasn’t worth the thousands of new jobs Amazon promised.
The book had a specific section for politicians who opposed the project, which by late January appeared to be in jeopardy despite Mayor Bill de Blasio’s and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s support, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, had his own chapter in the document that included him dissing Amazon’s founder while addressing shivering union members in late January: “It’s a cold day in New York, but not as cold as Jeff Bezos ’ heart.”
City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, whose district included Amazon’s new campus, complained that his anti-Amazon campaign appeared to be going nowhere.
“We were punching, and no one was punching back,” Van Bramer told The Journal.
But Amazon was taking notes.
One of the first entries in the book came from state Sen. Mike Gianaris, a Democrat like Van Bramer whose district also included the new campus.
He and Van Bramer had signed a letter in 2017 supporting the project but a year later were having second thoughts about the fat tax breaks.
“We were not elected to serve as Amazon drones,” Gianaris wrote in a joint statement sent with Van Bramer.
Gianaris had the longest section, with 25 entries.
Amazon execs found out during a public hearing in December 2018 that opposition to the plan was far more widespread than they had been led to believe by City Hall.
Two company executives sat stone-faced as demonstrators unfurled a banner from the balcony of the City Council chamber, the paper reported — and left the meeting feeling betrayed.
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson had told the company the night before that the hearing would be a cakewalk.
But then the squabbling between de Blasio and Cuomo — who had presented a united front in support of the plan — was also imperiling the project.
Cuomo saw the Amazon campus as a win-win that could bring as many as 40,000 jobs and make New York the Silicon Valley of the East Coast.
But de Blasio, considering a presidential bid he formally announced in May, wanted to preserve his rep as a working-class ally and friend of Big Labor.
He slammed Amazon’s opposition to unions and boasted that he was proud he had never shopped on the site — even though he supported the plan.
Neither he nor Cuomo nor Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who opposed the project — made it into the book.
Within weeks, Bezos and other Amazon brass were looking for alternatives.
“It was clear there was an intraparty power struggle,” Brian Huseman, a vice president for public policy at Amazon, told The Journal.
“We thought we would prevail, but had to question whether it was worth getting in the middle of it.”
Then, in February, the company called the deal off, shocking both Hizzoner and the governor.
An Amazon spokesperson said, “This document was a briefing paper that had public statements about the project to help executives prepare for the next City Council hearing, and to call it anything more is a gross exaggeration.”