Bridge is based in the East Village—across the East River from Long Island City where Amazon planned to get $3 billion in government tax breaks to build a new office. It promised 25k “high paying” jobs. Notably, one in five store fronts in the East Village are empty. The reasons for this vacancy vary. I’m not sure if Amazon abandoning its new HQ was a win for America but a loss for the East Village or maybe a win for both. I wish to see my local community grow and America grow. I hope NYC can attract a big employer that is a net job creator vs one that I believe is killing jobs nationally. After all, landing an employer that ‘fills’ storefronts here with but hollows them out nationally is not what I want nor what NYC should want. And, imagine getting an additional 25k residents and instead of them shopping local they just shop at home via their Alexa from their employer Amazon. What’s the point of a high paying job if it only contributes to high retail vacancy? These aren’t the neighbors that we want.