'Hunger Games-Style' Amazon Deal Prompts Effort To Stop Secrecy

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK -- Brooklyn lawmakers hope new legislation will prevent "Hunger Game-style" deals they blame for the Amazon headquarters bargain that has since sparked an uproar among outer-borough New Yorkers.

City councilmen Jumaane Williams and Brad Lander will team up with Queens councilman Jimmy Van Bramer to propose legislation banning non-disclosure agreements they say allowed Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo to hide its Amazon bid from New Yorkers and their elected officials.

"It's outrageous that the Amazon deal was done in total secrecy," Flatbush's representative Williams said. "Frankly I'm incensed and embarrassed about what occurred here."

News broke earlier this month that the city's Economic Development Corporation and the state's Empire State Development signed a contract promising Amazon that parts of their talks would be kept secret from the public.

The proposed bill — which Williams, Lander and Van Bramer hope to introduce "as expeditiously as possible" — would prevent city officials from entering into agreements that forbid them from sharing negotiation details with the public, the city councilmen said.

Such a bill might protect other communities — such as the 15 million-square-foot Brooklyn Tech Triangle the city pitched Amazon in 2017 — from facing unexpected takeovers from large corporations, said Landers.

"Amazon was able to demand that the city of New York hide its bid for Amazon HQ2 from us and from you ... as part of their Hunger Games-style bidding process," said Landers.

"It was unacceptable for the mayor and governor to yield to Amazon's demands and throw away the city's land use process."

The controversial deal has incurred outrage among New Yorkers unimpressed by Amazon's promise to invest about $2.5 billion and create more than 25,000 high-paying jobs in its new locations in Long Island City and Arlington, Virginia.

Amazon will benefit from nearly $3 billion worth of state and city incentives and generate $27.5 billion in tax revenue over 25 years, money which Williams argues should go toward improving local infrastructure.

"How the hell do you give someone a helipad when NYCHA has no heat?" Williams argued at a press conference. "How do you give away billions of dollars, but we can't fix the MTA?"

Photo courtesy of City Councilman Jumaane Williams' office