Ocasio-Cortez: Nothing Amazon has done makes us think it could be a good neighbor in NYC

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y) continued to criticize Amazon’s planned headquarters in New York City, saying nothing the company has done “would lead us to believe it could be a good or healthy neighbor.”

In a Friday tweet, the outspoken freshman Democrat blasted the Seattle-based company’s upcoming HQ2 in Queens.

Her post Friday quote-tweeted New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who questioned why Amazon was given billions in tax breaks and incentives to choose the city.

{mosads}“Nothing Amazon has said or done – including selling facial recognition technology to ICE & its intent to fight against worker unionization – would lead us to believe it could be a good or healthy neighbor for NYC,” she wrote.

Nothing Amazon has said or done – including selling facial recognition technology to ICE & its intent to fight against worker unionization – would lead us to believe it could be a good or healthy neighbor for NYC. https://t.co/BwASshxJ9F

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 1, 2019

The district Ocasio-Cortez represents in Congress borders the area in which Amazon selected as the site of its second headquarters.

“Why does a mega-corporation worth almost a trillion dollars, led by the richest man in the world, need our $3 billion in subsidies?,” Johnson wrote. “That’s what I asked Amazon execs yesterday.”

Ocasio-Cortez — a self-described socialist — and other progressives have spoken out about company’s hiring practices and relatively low wages, arguing that Amazon will push out long term residents as housing costs in the area skyrocket.

She said at the time of Amazon’s announcement that she received messages from constituents who voiced their “outrage.”

Amazon announced late last year that it would split its second headquarters between Long Island City in Queens and Crystal City, Virginia.