Amazon Foe In Demand As He Meets Queens Constituents

ASTORIA, NY – Three days after State Senator Michael Gianaris became the person who could singlehandedly derail Amazon's plans to open its HQ2 in Long Island City, he was sitting in a pastry shop meeting with his constituents.

Gianaris, who represents Astoria and Long Island City, rescheduled two meetings to accommodate a constant stream of locals who stopped by Cannelle Patisserie with concerns about rapidly rising rents and property taxes.

"This must be about Amazon," a woman said upon entering the bakery and seeing the people huddled around Gianaris's corner table.

About Amazon it was. One woman said she opposes the $3 billion in tax breaks and incentives Amazon would receive. A man said he heard Gianaris strongly opposes the deal and wanted to hear his reasoning. A Brooklyn woman came to express support for the Amazon deal, then complained about her commute to the bakery that morning. Gianaris said Amazon needs to make it easier for people like her to get to work.

On Monday, State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins announced the party's nomination for a little-known state board that will vote on the project plan for Amazon's proposed Long Island City campus: Gianaris, a vocal critic of the deal.

Gianaris's stance is no secret; he calls the retail giant "#Scamazon" on Twitter. "I believe this is a deal that is profoundly bad for the community for the state," he said in an interview with Patch.

If Governor Andrew Cuomo approves the nomination — and he hasn't yet, Gianaris said Thursday — Gianaris could singlehandedly decide HQ2's fate. Any of the three members of the board, known as the Public Authorities Control Board, can veto a proposal.

Cuomo sharply rebuked the senate majority's choice to nominate Gianaris. "If the Senate is going to be the reason that Amazon leaves New York, I wouldn’t want to be running for re-election as a Democratic senator,” Cuomo said in a radio interview Tuesday.

That didn't bother Gianaris, he told Patch on Thursday. Of Cuomo's response, he said: "That reflects more on him than it does on me."

"I hope he respects the will of the senate," he added.

Even if Cuomo approves the nomination, how much say the board will have over the deal is still up in the air. Robert F. Mujica Jr. told The New York Times the board would not necessarily review the state’s incentive package. “The capital grant does not have to go through P.A.C.B.,” he said.

In the meantime, Gianaris's star is rising among those following the Amazon story. More than 50 constituents met with him Thursday, according to a spokesperson. He was the subject of a New York Times profile Tuesday. Seemingly every news outlet is calling — from the Guardian and BBC to "Good Day New York" on Fox 5.

He appreciates the media attention, he said, but that isn't what matters to him. "It's an opportunity to communicate to people why I feel the way I do about this deal," he told Patch. "Everything else is ancillary."

(Lead image: Maya Kaufman/Patch)