We took a walk around Long Island City, the New York neighborhood where Amazon is reportedly planning to bring HQ2, and saw why it would be appealing to the e-commerce giant

Jessica Tyler

Nov 7, 2018, 03:05 IST

We took a walk around Long Island City, the New York neighborhood where Amazon is reportedly planning to bring HQ2, and saw why it would be appealing to the e-commerce giant

Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
Long Island City is home to the headquarters of several other corporations, including JetBlue.

Amazon is reportedly developing its second headquarters, HQ2, in two separate locations: the Long Island City neighborhod of Queens, New York, and the Crystal City area of Arlington, Virginia, The New York Times reported on Monday evening.
New York's pitch of Long Island City to Amazon included boasts about "a creative, mixed-use neighborhood," more than 13 million square feet of real estate, and speedy commute times.
We took a walk around Long Island City and saw why it would be appealing to Amazon.

Amazon will reportedly bring its second headquarters, HQ2, to two separate locations: the Long Island City neighborhod of Queens, New York, and the Crystal City area of Arlington, Virginia, The New York Times reported on Monday evening.

The decision follows more than a year of speculation and lobbying by communities around the United States and Canada.

There had been less speculation about New York City than Northern Virginia, but New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently made his desire to host Amazon clear.

"I'll change my name to Amazon Cuomo if that's what it takes," Cuomo told reporters on Monday. "Because it would be a great economic boost."

According to NY1, Cuomo reportedly met with Amazon executives in Seattle two weeks ago.

Long Island City's proposal to Amazon included boasts about "a creative, mixed-use neighborhood," more than 13 million square feet of real estate, and speedy commute times.

Here's what Long Island City is like:

Long Island City is a neighborhood in Queens and is most easily accessible by the 7, N, W, and G trains.

There are also a lot of Citi Bikes throughout the neighborhood.

I take the train to 36th Avenue, which is on the northern end of Long Island City.

The area, which borders Astoria, is very residential, with a lot of single-family homes and small apartments.

Many storefronts in the area appear to still be closed around 9 a.m. Walking around, you'll see many local businesses and quite a few stores with for-lease signs in the window.

There is a lot of public housing in the area as well.

Closer towards Manhattan, Long Island City feels more industrial.

There are a lot of big, empty buildings and warehouses that look like they could be turned into offices.

Further south in Long Island City are some brand-new high-rise apartments, with more under construction.

There is a lot of office space for rent ...

... on almost every block.

There's also more space being built.

In addition to offices for rent, there are a lot of buildings advertising their available apartments, which would be important for the potential 25,000 workers HQ2 would bring.

Walking even further south, I reach the Queensboro Plaza train stop, which has the 7, N, and W trains. There are several other subway lines nearby as well.

On the other side of the tracks are a lot of new and under-construction buildings that look like they could be offices or apartments.

There are a number of businesses based in Long Island City, including Silvercup Studios ...

... JetBlue, and Altice USA.

Bloomingdale's, Uber, Lyft, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Steve Madden also have offices in Long Island City.

Many of the offices are housed on the southern side of the Queensboro Plaza station, in Court Square, which is only accessible from the 7 train.

Major developments are also currently being built on the waterfront on the southern end of Long Island City, closer to Brooklyn. The developments are more focused on housing than office space.