NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio says he will continue Amazon boycott

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo at Tuesday’s press conference.Getty/Drew Angerer

• New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio celebrated in a joint press conference with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo the news that Amazon has chosen Long Island City as one of the sites for its second headquarters, HQ2. 
• New York is offering up more than $1.5 billion in tax breaks to Amazon.
• That doesn’t mean de Blasio is a fan of the company, calling himself “old school” for his refusal to shop there.
• De Blasio previously said in October 2017 that Amazon and other online shopping destinations are “very destructive to communities.”

New York City is getting one of Amazon’s new headquarters — and the mayor couldn’t be happier.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced as much during a joint press conference with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, held after news broke that Amazon had chosen Long Island City as one of the sites for its second headquarters, HQ2. 

De Blasio said it was “a great day for New York City” and “an extraordinary day for Queens” now that Amazon is coming to town for HQ2. 

New York has offered more than $1.5 billion in tax breaks if Amazon hits certain employment targets.

De Blasio also touted the scale of the HQ2 project, which he said “blows away anything we’ve ever seen.”

Read more: Amazon subtly hinted that it could have 2 HQ2s from the beginning

But de Blasio wasn’t always such a fan of Amazon.

The same day that New York confirmed it had submitted a bid to host Amazon’s new HQ2, de Blasio criticized the company, Politico reported back in October 2017.

“Something different is happening now that is very destructive to communities,” he said at the time. “A lot of people are turning to Amazon and other online options.”

The comments were made during a town hall in Brooklyn, less than an hour after the city released details about its proposal.

De Blasio, who famously said in 2017 that he’s never purchased anything from Amazon, said on Tuesday that he is “old-school” and won’t be easing up on that boycott anytime soon. 

Old habits die hard, it seems.

Read more about Amazon’s HQ2 project: