Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is being blamed by New Yorkers for the collapse of the Amazon headquarters deal in Queens, according to a poll by the Siena College Research Institute.
Amazon cancelled its plans to build a massive campus in Queens that would have brought an estimated 25,000 jobs to the New York City in exchange for $3 billion in state and local tax breaks.
According to the poll, 38% of those polled said that Ocasio-Cortex was the "biggest villain" in the saga, said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. Sixty-seven percent said the withdrawal was “bad” for New York, while only 21% said it was “good."
if(window.location.pathname.indexOf("/jpost-tech/")!=-1){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://static.vidazoo.com/basev/vwpt.js'; script.setAttribute('data-widget-id','616dd69d1b04080004ac2cc0'); document.getElementsByClassName('divVidazoo')[0].appendChild(script); }else if(window.location.pathname.indexOf("/israel-news/") != -1 || window.location.pathname.indexOf("/omg/") != -1 || window.location.pathname.indexOf("/food-recipes/") != -1 || window.location.pathname.indexOf("/science/") != -1){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://static.vidazoo.com/basev/vwpt.js'; script.setAttribute('data-widget-id','60fd6becf6393400049e6535'); document.getElementsByClassName('divVidazoo')[0].appendChild(script); }else if(window.location.pathname.indexOf("/health-and-wellness/") != -1){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12246'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}else if(window.location.pathname.indexOf("/breaking-news/") != -1){document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}“Who do New Yorkers blame? Well, there’s certainly blame enough to go around," he said. "More people think that Amazon, [New York Governor Andrew] Cuomo, [New York City Mayor Bill] de Blasio, the State Senate and local Queens activists were villains in this saga than they were heroes.""However, voters say the biggest villain was Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez," he highlighted.
Only 12% of those who took part in the poll called her a "hero, while 38% label her a villain,” Greenberg said. “Amazon itself was seen as the biggest villain among Democrats, but Republicans and independents had Ocasio-Cortez as far and away the largest villain, followed by the local Queens activists.”
The poll also found that 29% blamed Mayor de Blasio, while 28% said Governor Cuomo was to blame for the walk-away. Twenty-six percent said Amazon itself was the main culprit.
Greenberg reported that "New Yorkers would support the deal coming back together if Cuomo and others can convince Amazon to reconsider."
Although the Amazon deal was seen as very contentious, "there was strong support for it last month, before it got cancelled. There is an overwhelming feeling that its cancellation was bad for the state," Greenberg said. "And there is strong support – among all demographic groups – for Amazon to reconsider and move forward. Clearly, jobs outweigh the cost of government incentives in the minds of most voters.”The margin of error for the poll was about 4.2 percentage points.
