Amazon has kept a record of all the mean things that people said about the company while it was fighting to establish a second headquarter in New York
Amazon's New York Burn Book
According to a new report, the e-commerce company has a log of every negative comment made by politicians, union leaders, and other prominent political operatives.
The Wall Street Journal said that company executives kept a log in an eight-page Microsoft Word document titled "NY Negative Statements." It included half-dozen names and their comments, including Democratic Senator Mike Gianaris, New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, and Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union President Stuart Appelbaum. All three were critical of Amazon's plan to build a new headquarters in Long Island, Queens.
The use and promotion of the hashtag #scamazon, as well as criticism of a planned helipad, were some of the comments recorded in the document.
Neither Mayor Bill de Blasio nor Governor Andrew Cuomo, both of whom championed the planned HQ2, ended up on the list.
Not A Burn Book
In a statement to Gizmodo, Amazon confirmed that the document existed, but the company argued that it is not a burn book.
"This document was a briefing paper that had public statements about the project to help executives prepare for the next city council hearing," explained a spokesperson, "to call it anything more is a gross exaggeration."
New York City Pushes Amazon Out
In 2017, Amazon announced plans to build a new headquarter. The company eventually chose Long Island City where it would construct a large campus and create 25,000 new jobs.
However, in February, HQ2 was scrapped. Amazon cited the local opposition for the decision to pull out of New York City.
"While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City," the e-commerce company said.
At the time, Amazon said that it has no plans to reopen the search for HQ2's new site.
