Fifty-three years ago, New York City played host to the world as it showcased American culture and technology on the grounds of the World’s Fair to over 51 million visitors in Queens. The 1964 World’s Fair was conceived with futurism in mind, featuring Jetsons-like Googie architecture on a sprawling, leafy campus.
Today, as cities across the country submit their proposals for Amazon’s second global headquarters, New York City finds itself bidding to be another host — this time to one of the world’s biggest and fastest growing companies — and Queens as the most promising location for what could become a fairground for innovation for over 50,000 Amazon employees.
No fewer than 50 cities have since expressed interest, and with the rising prominence of New York City as the global economic capital, it’s unmistakable — as a recent Moody’s analysis has noted — that the city is not just an aspirant but one of the leading contenders in this interurban competition.
New York has been vocal about this opportunity — going so far as to illuminate all of the city’s skyscrapers and LinkNYC kiosks orange. In revealing the city’s bid in his announcement, the mayor endorsed four locations but cited small business owners affected by the online retailer in later remarks at a town hall.
If the city’s chances remain unaffected by the mayor’s comments, the question may soon become not which city but which neighborhood within New York offers the most promising new home for Amazon.
Amazon’s request for proposals in September highlighted several key decision drivers: The suitability of buildings, capital costs, the labor force, transportation, the business and political climates, and the community and quality of life. With sites in Brooklyn and Manhattan as competing options, Long Island City’s suitability is writ large.
The commercial real estate economics play out to Long Island City’s advantage: At an average of $38 per square foot, it is significantly less compared with Midtown’s $82 per square foot and Brooklyn’s $52 per square foot. And with an astounding 8 million square feet being sought — nearly as much as the World Trade Center — both costs and availability of real estate become factors.
Long Island City offers Amazon the opportunity not only for expansion and growth, but for the chance to envisage and develop a state-of-the-art campus more impressive than Apple’s Cupertino headquarters or Google’s in Mountain View. LIC’s rawness — its unique blend of industrial warehouses interspersed with community and culture — gives it a potential yet to be unlocked and without the cost-intensity of Manhattan.
The Queens waterfront offers other benefits. Its accessibility to two major airports, the Long Island Rail Road, eight subway lines, greater New York City including Brooklyn and suburban Long Island by means of the LIE and BQE makes it one of the more transportation friendly neighborhoods. The mental hurdle of traveling to midtown is leaped once one realizes it is a 17-minute train ride while the BQX light rail will one day bind the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn.
However, while the Mayor revealed four promising locations in its bid, including Downtown Manhattan, Midtown Manhattan, the Brooklyn Tech Triangle, and Long Island City, New York City’s biggest real estate developers have given Long Island City their imprimatur after conducting studies and acknowledging its strengths. This governmental and community support, as Amazon has sought in its request for proposals, is directed towards Long Island City.
Yet the most paramount of decisions for Amazon will be its proximity to a skilled and technical workforce-its growth will depend on human capital. New York City’s tech ecosystem will outgrow Silicon Valley in decades to come, and Amazon’s growing need for software developers and technical talent will be satisfied by the city’s top engineering universities including Roosevelt Island’s Cornell Tech campus. The immediate potential and synergy between Cornell Tech and Amazon can become realized not only through the close proximity, but through institutional collaboration from Cornell Tech’s president, Dan Huttenlocher — a member of Amazon’s board.
The 1964 World’s Fair was dedicated to “Man’s Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe.” It’s fitting then that the world’s largest retailer share the vision with a borough and a neighborhood with this rare aspiration.
Brack is founder and principal of innovation strategy firm, Future Forward Partners. He is a former Google employee and served in the administrations of Mayors Bloomberg and de Blasio, helping build the NYC Mayor’s Office of Tech and Innovation. Skandul is the founder and principal of Capitol Foundry, a design and technology firm. He previously worked on economic-development projects in the City Council.
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