Amazon very publicly decided not to build "HQ2" in Long Island City as a result of the local opposition. Amazon's significant Manhattan presence predates any of this discussion and is largely unsubsidized. It's also a little goofy to assume that the people working for Amazon in Manhattan don't live in Queens but otherwise would if the office was physically located there (especially given their proximity to the 7 train lol).
> Amazon's significant Manhattan presence predates any of this discussion and is largely unsubsidized
It’s unsubsidised. But there was a hiring boom originally planned for Queens—I know people who were planning on living in Queens who had to about turn to Chelsea.
You’re correct that Queens lost because of opposition, not subsidies per se, but a lot of that opposition was churned by anti-subsidy politics.
How so? I was in west Manhattan when that happened. We got the jobs and capital, not Queens.