A majority of New York voters say Amazon pulling its planned headquarters out of Queens was bad for the state and they blame Democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, according to a new poll published Monday.
The Siena College poll surveying 700 registered voters in New York revealed 67 percent said Amazon canceling its plans was bad for the state, while only 21 percent approved.
“Even 56 percent of self-described liberals think it was bad for New York,” said Steven Greenberg, a pollster for Siena College.
“While some may have celebrated Amazon’s announcement to pull the plug, the vast majority of New Yorkers of every stripe thought it was bad for the Empire State,” he added.
The research also revealed voters see Ms. Ocasio-Cortez as a villain who helped nix the business project, which was expected to create roughly 25,000 jobs. Amazon would have received roughly $3 billion in tax credits over a 10-year period.
The freshman lawmaker questioned why such a large corporation was receiving billions of dollars.
Upon the pushback, Amazon canceled its plans in February.
“By a wide margin, New Yorkers would support the deal coming back together if [Gov. Andrew] Cuomo and others can convince Amazon to reconsider,” Mr. Greenberg said.
The poll has a plus/minus 4.2 percent margin of error.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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