We Asked New Yorkers For Their Messages To Jeff Bezos After Amazon Scrapped Its HQ Plans

LONG ISLAND CITY, New York — It's Valentine's Day in New York, but love was not in the air when it comes to the city's relationship with Amazon.

On Thursday, Amazon announced it was abandoning plans to build a headquarters in Queens. The deal had faced major backlash from some New York activists and lawmakers, who slammed the $3 billion in tax incentives offered by the city and contended that the massive tech company moving in could worsen gentrification and the city's already struggling infrastructure.

BuzzFeed News went to Long Island City, the neighborhood where Amazon was supposed to move in, to ask its residents, as well as some anti-Amazon protesters, to share their messages to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

"Thanks! Now my job won't have to relocate!"

"Amazon, NYC would have liked to host you, but you should have TALKED to the neighborhood. And participated in ULURP [Uniform Land Use Review Procedure]."

"Not with our tax dollars!"

"You can't always get what you want, sir!"

"Dear Jeff, I'm glad I was spared the dick pics. Please find another community to extort. Sincerely, Alix with an I."

"Could have offered some 30 call center jobs to housing project residents, been pro-union (this is NYC), been specific on what they're doing to benefit community, and protect local artist studios from developers."

"Dear Jeff, sorry things didn't work out. I thought this was going to be a great thing over the long haul for NYC and esp. LIC. So much I can say but not enough space."

"Eat the rich."

"Hi dude, I'm happy for Queens! —Jonathan"

"Bezos, take your corporation and bring it back to where it belongs, the trash!"

"Jeff Bezos: Good riddance!"

"Go Queens, go Queens, Queens FTW."

"Bezos, better be better."

"Fuck Bezos."

"Jeff Bezos, fuck off!"

"Fuck Amazon."