Andrew Cuomo got played by AOC in failed Amazon deal

May 2024 · 4 minute read

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo was deluged with hate mail following the collapse of his $3 billion deal to build a giant Amazon headquarters in Queens — with many of the missives mocking the fact he’d been bested by freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, The Post has learned.

“You got outsmarted by a bartender … thanks,” Patricia Kaufman scolded the three-term governor, noting the 29-year-old socialist firebrand’s former occupation.

Her email is just one of some 2,200 pieces of correspondence to the governor about the Amazon deal that The Post obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

“What a dysfunctional scenario to unfold under your watch. AOC has played you swiftly. WOW!” David Sorbellini wrote Cuomo.

Anne Catalano told the governor that his Democratic Party “has lost its mind.”

“Seriously? We lost AMAZON’S headquarters?!! Are you all so afraid of AOC and screaming, stupid protestors who don’t understand Economics 101??? Is she so intimidating that you and [Mayor Bill] De Blasio couldn’t get this done? SHAME ON YOU!!!!” she wrote.

Stephen Lavery opined how “that little snot nose trashed your big deal,” then took a shot at Cuomo’s masculinity.

“I guess we know who wears the pants in New York now. Especially in the Democratic Party,” he wrote.

The furious messages comprise a tiny slice of around 1,500 emails and letters that Cuomo’s office received following Amazon’s abrupt Feb. 14 cancellation of plans to build a corporate campus in Long Island City. The other 700 or so were sent to the governor after the deal was announced in November 2018.

Amazon blamed its surprise delivery of the Valentine’s Day disappointment on unexpected opposition to the $3 billion worth of incentives that Cuomo and de Blasio offered in a secret deal in exchange for the promise of more than 25,000 jobs.

“A number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward,” Amazon said at the time.

The online retail giant didn’t name names, but Ocasio-Cortez, who reps parts of Queens and the Bronx, was among the fiercest critics of its deal.

In addition to bashing Cuomo for failing to tamp down Ocasio-Cortez’s outspoken resistance, other writers told Cuomo they planned to flee New York over the development debacle.

“Bye, Bye. Me and My entire extended family are now on our way out of your state to live in Tennessee,” William Parker wrote.

“It has nothing to do with the weather!!!!!!!!! It’s all to do with you. Loser!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Chris Vail, who said he lives in the Finger Lakes region upstate, said he was going to relocate to North Carolina, South Carolina or Florida.

“Your failure to secure Amazon as a new corporation to do business in the state is laughable and a testament to political incompetence,” Vail wrote.

“You and all the other NYS political self-serving hacks are an embarrassment. Looking forward to putting you and NY in my rear view mirror!”

Several abortion opponents even suggested the Amazon fiasco was God’s way of punishing Cuomo for signing a February bill that codified the Roe v. Wade decision into state law.

That move came in response to President Trump’s successful nomination of two conservative judges — Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — to the US Supreme Court.

“God works in mysterious ways,” wrote Lorraine DeDonato of Oregon.

“So thrilled to hear Amazon is not bringing jobs into New York. Since you are a supporter of late term abortion and the monies from Planned Parenthood and George Soros control you, you got what you deserve.”

Lorim Kerim also told Cuomo, “Surely you realize God will not be mocked.”

Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi tried to exonerate Cuomo by shifting the blame to the elected officials who were against Amazon’s plan, who in addition to Ocasio-Cortez included state Sen. Mike Gianaris (D-Long Island City).

“There is no doubt losing Amazon was a major political blunder by opposing officials and pure pandering at the expense of responsible governing,” Azzopardi said.

A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez declined to comment.

Additional reporting by Bruce Golding

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