Read the letter New York leaders sent to Jeff Bezos begging Amazon to come back

Dennis Green

Mar 1, 2019, 22:17 IST

Read the letter New York leaders sent to Jeff Bezos begging Amazon to come back

Getty/Michael Kovac

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

On Friday, dozens of New York business and civic leaders signed on to an open letter to Jeff Bezos in the New York Times begging him to reconsider Amazon's choice to pull its HQ2 project out of New York.
The letter comes after New York Govenor Andrew Cuomo talked directly with Bezos recently, according to the New York Times.
There have been no indications that Amazon has been reconsidering New York since its shock decision to pull out in February.

New York isn't giving up on Amazon.

Like a spurned lover, leaders and representatives from the state and city of New York have signed on an open letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in the New York Times begging him to reconsider the company's choice to pull its HQ2 project out of New York. The company announced the decision in mid-February.

The letter rehashes past events, reiterates the boon Amazon was projected to offer the city and state, and offers reassurances that the project will move forward if Amazon gives the go ahead.

The letter goes on to say that "Governor Cuomo will take personal responsibility for the project's state approval" while "Mayor de Blasio will work together with the governor to manage the community development process, including the workforce development, public education and infrastructure investments that are necessary."

Here's the full letter, reproduced from the Times.

Dear Mr. Bezos:
New Yorkers do not want to give up on the 25,000 permanent jobs, 11,000 union construction and maintenance jobs, and $28 billion in new tax revenues that Amazon was prepared to bring to our state. A clear majority of New Yorkers support this project and were disappointed by your decision not to proceed. We understand that becoming home to the world's industry leader in e-commerce, logistics and web services would be a tremendous boost for our state's technology industry, which is our fastest growing generator of new jobs. As representatives of a wide range of government, business, labor and community interests, we urge you to reconsider, so that we can move forward together.
We know the public debate that followed the announcement of the Long Island City project was rough and not very welcoming. Opinions are strong in New York-sometimes strident. We consider it part of the New York charm! But when we commit to a project as important as this, we figure out how to get it done in a way that works for everyone.
Governor Cuomo will take personal responsibility for the project's state approval and Mayor de Blasio will work together with the governor to manage the community development process, including the workforce development, public education and infrastructure investments that are necessary to ensure that the Amazon campus will be a tremendous benefit to residents and small businesses in the surrounding communities.
New York attracts the best, most diverse talent from across the globe. We are a dynamic new center of the country's most inclusive tech economy. We all hope you reconsider and join us in building the exciting future of New York.

The letter was signed by dozens of New York business and civic figures, including religious, education, union, political, and tech leaders.

Cuomo also spoke with Amazon executives - including Bezos - personally on multiple occasions over the last two weeks, according to the New York Times, to try and get the company to reconsider.

Amazon has given no indications that it has been reconsidering its New York decision since its shock decision. At the time, head of policy communications for Amazon Jodi Seth told NBC News that its decision was "pretty firm" and not open to renegotiation.