The company, as part of its extensive search for a new headquarters, had chosen Long Island City, Queens, as one of two winning sites, saying it would create more than 25,000 jobs in the city.
But the agreement to lure Amazon stirred an intense debate about the use of government incentives to entice wealthy companies, the rising cost of living in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, and the city’s very identity.
Amazon’s decision is a major blow for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had set aside their differences to bring the company to New York.
But it was a remarkable win for insurgent progressive politicians led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose upset victory last year happened to occur in the district where Amazon had planned its site. Her win galvanized the party’s left flank, which mobilized against the deal.
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As recently as Wednesday, the governor had brokered a meeting between Amazon executives and the union leaders who had been resistant to the deal, according to two people briefed on the sit-down. The meeting ended without any compromise on the part of Amazon, according to the people.
To attract Amazon, city and state officials offered the company one of the largest ever incentive packages in exchange for a much larger return in jobs and tax revenue.
They agreed to remake plans for the Queens waterfront and move a distribution center for school lunches. They even agreed to give Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, access to a helicopter pad.
Under the plan, within 15 years the company could occupy as much as 8 million square feet of office space, including office buildings for as many as 40,000 workers.
But almost as soon as it was announced, the deal was met with resistance, from local elected officials like Gianaris and progressive groups that held rallies and petitioned in Queens against the deal.
The company had chosen New York as well as a site in northern Virginia for major expansion. On Thursday, the company said it had no plans to reopen a search for a second location.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.