Cuomo spokesperson blames Kaminsky for Amazon's NYC pullout

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office in a scathing statement pointed the finger for losing New York's Amazon headquarters deal squarely at state Sen. Todd Kaminsky.

News 12 Staff

Feb 15, 2019, 5:19 PM

Updated 1,886 days ago

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Cuomo spokesperson blames Kaminsky for Amazon's NYC pullout
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office in a scathing statement pointed the finger for losing New York's Amazon headquarters deal squarely at state Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a fellow Democrat.
Kaminsky is the longest serving Democrat from Long Island in the state Senate. Because of that senior position, the governor says he was responsible for helping make sure the project went through.
"Senator Kaminsky cowered when he should have shown courage. Now all of Long Island suffers," a Cuomo spokesperson wrote.
From the Nassau Legislative building in Mineola, Kaminsky said the governor's critique is misguided. He says, after all, the opposition mostly came from politicians in New York City.
Kaminsky says he supported the Amazon deal from day one and tried to bring together both sides.
"The Long Island senators were in support of it," Kaminsky says. "But the fact that there was vociferous opposition and the company and leadership in Albany and City Hall couldn't figure this out, I think it's a shame."
The Amazon project would have brought 25,000 jobs to Long Island City, Queens, in exchange for nearly $3 billion in government incentives.
Invitations have been extended for the company to come to Nassau or Suffolk counties instead. Republican state Sen. Kenneth LaValle says Amazon would be welcome in the Town of Brookhaven.
For now, Amazon is moving forward with its plans to expand in Virginia and Tennessee.


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