'We proved Amazon wrong': activists celebrate Bezos' retreat from Queens

Amazon picked a tough moment to come to New York. Progressive groups were in the ascendant and they turned their fire on an obvious target: a plan to lure a company run by the world's richest man with $3bn in subsidies and tax breaks. The abrupt collapse of Amazon's plan for a new headquarters, or HQ2, in Long Island City was a milestone victory for leftwing insurgents over establishment Democrats who backed the deal. "This is a new day in New York City politics," said Sasha Wijeyeratne, executive director of Caaav: Organizing Asian Communities. "They sauntered in here and said HQ2 was inevitable," she said.