NYC Mayor de Blasio is right about Amazon tax breaks for the wrong reasons: Jonathan Hoenig
Amazon backed out of a deal to build a second headquarters in Queens earlier this year, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said they're "on their own" if they change their mind.
New York originally offered Amazon roughly $3 billion in tax breaks and capital grants before they pulled out of the headquarters deal due to opposition from local politicians. Now, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says that they won’t be offering any assistance to Amazon if they decide to move more employees to New York City.
Jonathan Hoenig, Capitalist Pig Hedge Fund manager, told Fox Business Network’s Kennedy that Bill de Blasio is right to oppose special tax breaks for Amazon, but for the wrong reasons.
“It is not the role of government, Kennedy, as you know, to micromanage business, or to give special subsidies for certain groups, and not to others,” he said. “So, you know, Mayor de Blasio, it’s not that he’s against cronyism, however, he’s just against cronyism for Amazon. He wants cronyism for his special groups.”
Hoenig pointed out that New York City is not a welcoming city for businesses and that de Blasio should be focused on creating a more level playing field for everyone.
“New York has, of course, the highest taxes in the country. He has advocated for paid vacation leave, $15 dollar minimum wage. I mean, heck, he is talking about wanting to ban glass and steel skyscrapers,” he said.
After the headquarters deal collapsed, President Trump told reporters it was “a big loss for New York City.” Hoenig said that kind of thinking is hypocritical of Republicans.
“This is what’s so ironic when it comes to this Amazon issue. A lot of conservatives were saying, ‘Of course we should incentivize amazon.’ But you’re giving in on the very premise, the principle that government’s role is to give special subsidies,” he said.
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It is not clear when Amazon will make a decision about potentially expanding their presence in New York City. Amazon said last month that they have started leasing office space and posting jobs for their second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
