Newark Says, Hey Amazon, Look Over Here
Chris Christie of New Jersey and Senator Cory A. Booker, the former Newark mayor, joined Mr. Baraka at Rutgers Business School, which shares its building in the city with Audible Inc., whose 1,000 employees produce and sell audio entertainment and which is owned by Amazon, to announce
that Newark is the state’s official bid in the headquarters race.
“All the developers and political leaders know that Amazon would be good for everyone.”
His company is in the midst of converting a 110-year-old warehouse at Edison Place
and McCarter Highway into an office building, alongside a new park, Mulberry Commons, which the city is building after a decade of delays.
“They’re not saying, we’ll invest billions in New Jersey Transit so workers can get to
work on time, or in affordable housing so workers can have a decent place to live.”
Handicappers have put New York in the top 10 among the competitors for an HQ2 based on Amazon’s own criteria, which include good public transportation, a skilled work force, the cost of doing business
and a location within a metro area of more than one million residents.
There is prime office space available, and new apartments downtown are far less expensive than housing in New York City or even Jersey City.
According to city officials and developers, it has much of what Amazon, the retail giant, has said it wants as it
searches for a place to build its second headquarters, in a national competition that has become known as HQ2.
“We have exactly what Amazon is looking for, in terms of expanding their company in a city
that will help them grow and where it would have real social impact,” said Mayor Ras J. Baraka in an interview.