CT Gov. Lamont reaches out to Amazon amid reports of NYC HQ second thoughts

Gov. Ned Lamont has made overtures to Amazon after press reports claimed that the e-commerce giant was having second thoughts about establishing a new headquarters complex in New York City.

The governor used his Twitter channel to announce the state was still interested in hosting Amazon. “Upon the 1st indication ”“ days ago ”“ that there may be trouble with @Amazon’s proposed deal with #NY, we mobilized our new Partnership to Advance the Connecticut of Tomorrow ”“ and more specifically, @CERCInc co-chairs Indra Nooyi and Jim Smith, to construct a path forward,” he tweeted. “The state has already made an outreach to @Amazon through its in-state representation, and we are looking forward to expanding the dialogue.”

The Washington Post ”“ which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ”“ ran a report on Friday stating that Amazon has become unhappy with the opposition from some political leaders and neighborhood activists to its proposed headquarters, which would be located in the Long Island City section of Queens. Amazon would be receiving nearly $3 billion in city and state subsidies if the deal is finalized, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the deal “the largest economic development initiative that has ever been done by the city or the state or the city and the state, together.”

The Washington Post report was based on information provided by “two people familiar with the company’s thinking” ”“ the Seattle-based company did not issue any formal statement suggesting that it would cancel its agreement with New York City.

When Amazon announced its competition for metro markets to submit proposals for a new Amazon headquarters, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development decided to pitch the Stamford and Hartford regions as the state”™s representative candidates. Other pitches were made by Danbury and the combined Bridgeport-New Haven markets.