It's the talk of the towns. After a 14-month search, Amazon says it will have two new East Coast headquarters: one in Arlington, Virginia and the other in New York City. In each city, the company says it expects to create 25,000 jobs.
But the expansion comes with a hefty price tag. In New York, the company has options to receive up to $3 billion in tax credits, abatements and capital grants from the city and state in return for building a new complex in Long Island City, Queens.
These incentives, along with the lack of transparency over how the deal was made and how the state plans to streamline approvals for the project has sparked a backlash from many local officials— and New Yorkers — who are asking: Is the deal worth the money?
This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman sorts through that question with two reporters paying close attention to the Amazon news: Shira Ovida, a columnist with Bloomberg Opinion, and Derek Thompson of The Atlantic.
