Stewart-Cousins: Amazon deal received pushback on ‘every level’

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins responded Friday to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who came out swinging Thursday, blaming fellow Democrats in the state Senate for killing the $3 billion Amazon deal for Long Island City, Queens.
“A small group [of] politicians put their own political interests above their community – which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City, the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state,” Cuomo said in a statement. “The New York state Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity."
Stewart-Cousins says the deal received lots of pushback from elected leaders on “every level.”
“People are elected to represent their communities, and the reality is, on every level, there was pushback after the deal had already been sealed, because people came to the table late," she said.
Sen. Stewart-Cousins also says legislators were not happy with the deal that offered huge tax incentives to Amazon.
Political analyst Jeanne Zaino says that the governor and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio fell flat footed in the lost deal and sees possible retribution on both sides.
“The governor…is clearly casting blame. And I think that's not something that's going to serve him, serve Democrats, or the state," she says.
Stewart-Cousins maintains that this decision was about the people.
"The process was very flawed and important stakeholders weren't brought in early enough," she told News 12.