Amazon’s would-be NY neighbors: Cynicism, some hope for jobs
Shawn Smith has heard the promises before. When new hotels sprang up near the public housing complex in Queens where he’s lived for 17 years, residents were told they would bring jobs and economic opportunity.
He hasn’t seen any of it. So he’s cynical about the announcement this week that Amazon will build a headquarters for 25,000 workers on the Long Island City waterfront, a half mile from his home. Elected officials gleefully promised that Amazon’s presence will buoy all of western Queens. Smith is not so sure.
“The hotels here, they’re not hiring nobody. They’re bringing their own kind,” said Smith, who commutes to a construction job in New Jersey. “That’s how I feel about Amazon.”