Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

LIC, Midtown West Among 4 Neighborhoods Pitched by City for Next Amazon HQ

 The Empire State Building and other buildings were lit up
The Empire State Building and other buildings were lit up "Amazon Orange" Wednesday night in support of the city's proposal.
View Full Caption
NYCEDC

NEW YORK CITY — City officials pitched locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens as potential sites for Amazon to open its new headquarters in a bid to lure the retail giant to the Big Apple. 

The city submitted its proposal Wednesday for the company's planned $5 billion campus, offering up Midtown West, Long Island City, the Brooklyn Tech Triangle and Lower Manhattan, according to the city's Economic Development Corp.  

Those neighborhoods were selected based on more than two-dozen proposals the EDC received since asking for submissions last month. Officials in The Bronx and Williamsburg were also looking to lure the retail giant.

Potential sites were required to have at least 500,000 square feet of available commercial space by 2019 and and up to 8 million square feet after 2027, as well as be close to public transit and major highways.

"The case for New York City is simple: we are the global capital of commerce, culture and innovation," Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote in a letter to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. "No city has a greater diversity of talent, of industries, and of collisions that fuel great ideas and companies."

Several of the city's best-known buildings, including the Empire State Building and One World Trade, were lit up in "Amazon Orange" Wednesday night in support of the city's bid.

The new headquarters is expected to generate 50,000 "good paying" jobs, officials said.

Amazon already has a presence in New York, including distribution centers in Midtown, Sunset Park and another one planned to open next year on Staten Island.

The company is set to select and announce the winning location for its next headquarters in 2018. 

Amazon's primary headquarters are in Seattle.