Amazon made a surprise announcement on 14 February, that it has cancelled moving forward with its plan to build a new headquarters facility in New York's Long Island City due to some Democratic political opposition.

In response to the decision, New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo released the following statement: “Amazon previously chose to come to New York because we are the capital of the world and the best place to do business. We competed in and won the most hotly contested national economic development competition in the US, resulting in at least 25-40,000 good paying jobs for our state and nearly $30bn dollars in new revenue to fund transit improvements, new housing, schools and countless other quality of life improvements.

“Bringing Amazon to New York diversified our economy away from real estate and Wall Street, further cementing our status as an emerging centre for tech and was an extraordinary economic win not just for Queens and New York City, but for the entire region, from Long Island to Albany's nanotech centre.

“However, a small group of politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community - which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City - the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state. The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity.”