Amazon
#26
aka Tom Reingold
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Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
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If I remember right, registration opens in January, and it fills up immediately.
If you want, I can give you a cycling tour instead to see how people live and cycle here. I'll make you a nice brunch.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#28
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#29
aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
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I forgive people in Queens when they say they're headed into The City. That's an idiom, and those people know fully well that they are already in the city.
Suburb? Uh, no. Long Island City is a section (or neighborhood) of Queens. Queens isn't even a suburb.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#30
Nope. I am neurotically precise in my choice of words, though I do sometimes mess up. So when I say New York City, I mean the five boroughs. When I want to refer to Manhattan, I name the island. I might not be precise when referring to Marble Hill.
I forgive people in Queens when they say they're headed into The City. That's an idiom, and those people know fully well that they are already in the city.
Suburb? Uh, no. Long Island City is a section (or neighborhood) of Queens. Queens isn't even a suburb.
I forgive people in Queens when they say they're headed into The City. That's an idiom, and those people know fully well that they are already in the city.
Suburb? Uh, no. Long Island City is a section (or neighborhood) of Queens. Queens isn't even a suburb.
I guess I sometimes throw terms around a little haphazardly, but I will try to remember whenever I am in a thread with you to be a little more careful. Anyway, my point was that, in my head (and I haven't ventured west to cycle in about 3-4 years now), the bicycling infrastructure in the area of Queens where Amazon wants to set up shop is not quite on the level of the network of lanes and paths in Manhattan.
#31
aka Tom Reingold
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[MENTION=137127]Papa Tom[/MENTION], I'm not asking anyone to be more precise, just saying that I am precise.
The western parts of Queens seem pretty darned urban to me, even though I'm a Manhattanite. I grew up on the upper west side.
The western parts of Queens seem pretty darned urban to me, even though I'm a Manhattanite. I grew up on the upper west side.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#32
But how would you compare the bicycle infrastructure in Queens to the bicycle infrastructure in Manhattan? I can only base my comments on what I remember from a few years back, so I'd like your point-of-view. To me, LI City, Queens, is not a place that's built for bicycle commuting, but with Amazon coming, I'd be interested to hear otherwise.
#33
aka Tom Reingold
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OK. I've always found Queens to be annoying to cycle in. I'm not sure it can be fixed with bike lanes. The last time I was in LIC, I didn't look at it from a cyclist's perspective, so I don't know. In summer of 2014, I raced at Kissena Velodrome. Almost every time, I rode from my home to the track, on a track bike. Ouch. I even took 34th Ave, which is not terribly congested, and it has bike lanes. But overall, it was unfun.
Manhattan is no paradise, either.
It's amazing how many New Yorkers put up with New York. I moved back here from NJ in 2013, so when I did, it felt both old and new to me, meaning that the pleasures and the punishments were vividly felt. Depending on the route, bike commuting can be better here than it used to be. One reason is that drivers are used to seeing us on the streets, and that includes all boroughs. I've even found taxi drivers to be a ton more cautious than before.
Manhattan is no paradise, either.
It's amazing how many New Yorkers put up with New York. I moved back here from NJ in 2013, so when I did, it felt both old and new to me, meaning that the pleasures and the punishments were vividly felt. Depending on the route, bike commuting can be better here than it used to be. One reason is that drivers are used to seeing us on the streets, and that includes all boroughs. I've even found taxi drivers to be a ton more cautious than before.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#35
aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 41,028
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
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noglider, you must be familiar with Bikemanforu? He has a youtube channel and I think he lives in Queens
https://www.youtube.com/bikemanforu
https://www.youtube.com/bikemanforu
__________________
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#38
I am potato.
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Not that I know anything about New York or DC, but here in Seattle I think Amazon is a huge benefit to the economy of our entire region. 300,000 new residents moved to Seattle and surrounding areas last year.
This is what happens when a long term plan to tax yourself, invest in infrastructure, and balanceed budgets meets meeting the needs of the governed. Suddenly long term predictable plans can be made by a prospective employer whose been attracted by good infrastructure and cheap resources and a dynamic educated diverse workforce. Soon they scramble for talented labor. That sucking sound is the workers from the fly-over states looking for greener pastures and fully funded schools for their children.
Yes, there is growing pains. Those on the fringe tend to get pushed out. But that's not Amazons fault a worker is unemployable. The homeless "crisis" costs $90 million in the Seattle budget alone, but compare that to the 300,000 new residents (this year) the broader economy supports. It's a no-brainer. Amazon is a net positive for Seattle, and Seattle/King County budget philosophy is seeing pay off in it's long term plan.
Amazon Market place in particular (as opposed to Wal-mart/Target/et al.) provides a store front to thousands of mom&pop retailers that otherwise wouldn't exist. That's a good thing.
Maybe the cities that lost the competition would do well to ask why they didn't make the cut.
This is what happens when a long term plan to tax yourself, invest in infrastructure, and balanceed budgets meets meeting the needs of the governed. Suddenly long term predictable plans can be made by a prospective employer whose been attracted by good infrastructure and cheap resources and a dynamic educated diverse workforce. Soon they scramble for talented labor. That sucking sound is the workers from the fly-over states looking for greener pastures and fully funded schools for their children.
Yes, there is growing pains. Those on the fringe tend to get pushed out. But that's not Amazons fault a worker is unemployable. The homeless "crisis" costs $90 million in the Seattle budget alone, but compare that to the 300,000 new residents (this year) the broader economy supports. It's a no-brainer. Amazon is a net positive for Seattle, and Seattle/King County budget philosophy is seeing pay off in it's long term plan.
Amazon Market place in particular (as opposed to Wal-mart/Target/et al.) provides a store front to thousands of mom&pop retailers that otherwise wouldn't exist. That's a good thing.
Maybe the cities that lost the competition would do well to ask why they didn't make the cut.
Last edited by base2; 11-21-18 at 04:59 PM.
#39
I think what RedPath is looking for are comments about the effects of Amazon on cycling infrastructure in the Long Island City and Crystal City area. We could go on and on about the economic, social, and political ups-and-downs of Amazon moving to these places, but that's all for a different forum.
#40
Condos in Galerie, which is located just blocks away from the planned Amazon headquarters site, start at $720,000 for the smallest 403 square-foot studio and range to $2.15 million for a penthouse.
Its not clear what type of unit the two Amazon employees purchased, but experts believe they immediately increased in value with the announcement of the company's imminent arrival just a few blocks away.
Its not clear what type of unit the two Amazon employees purchased, but experts believe they immediately increased in value with the announcement of the company's imminent arrival just a few blocks away.
#42
Banned
So will taxing the workers, hired, make up for the generous tax wavers
put out to attract the company..
This does not sound fair , but is business as usual..
...
put out to attract the company..
This does not sound fair , but is business as usual..
...
#43
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I think what RedPath is looking for are comments about the effects of Amazon on cycling infrastructure in the Long Island City and Crystal City area. We could go on and on about the economic, social, and political ups-and-downs of Amazon moving to these places, but that's all for a different forum.
Maybe Amazon is being truthful in their disclosure of why they chose the cities they did. Given their corporate culture, I'm inclined to believe them.
#45
In my view, nothing is real until it happens. Here in Wisconsin, we just cut a deal with Foxconn to subsidize development of a manufacturing plant. The deal included:
1. Declaring prosperous working farms to be "blighted" so they could be seized by eminent domain.
2. Exempting Foxconn from environmental regulations
3. Large taxpayer subsidies in a state whose roads and bridges are crumbling
Within months of the deal being announced, it has already been scaled down, and nobody knows what if anything will get built.
So, I'm not holding my breath. Sure, the sites are ideal for their proximity to the advertising and government contracting industries, so I'm not surprised by the choices.
1. Declaring prosperous working farms to be "blighted" so they could be seized by eminent domain.
2. Exempting Foxconn from environmental regulations
3. Large taxpayer subsidies in a state whose roads and bridges are crumbling
Within months of the deal being announced, it has already been scaled down, and nobody knows what if anything will get built.
So, I'm not holding my breath. Sure, the sites are ideal for their proximity to the advertising and government contracting industries, so I'm not surprised by the choices.
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