Student Association and BU Council
CANDIDATES DISCUSS PLANS AND ANNOUNCE PLATFORMS SEE PAGE 4
Monday, February 25, 2019 | Vol. XCV, Issue 10 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com
The Free Word on Campus Since 1946
Local politicians advocate for Amazon headquarters Garnar, Brindisi ask e-commerce giant to consider setting up shop in Binghamton Max Samson & Jackson Galati pipe dream news
Ten days ago, Amazon canceled its plans for a headquarters in New York City amid local opposition and outrage. Now, local politicians are trying to bring Amazon to central New York. Following Amazon’s decision to establish a headquarters in Long Island City in October, the e-commerce giant faced months of public outrage and protest. Local politicians, activists and union workers opposed the $3 billion tax break offered to Amazon by New York state, and argued the company would further gentrify the area and cause rents to skyrocket. In response to the criticism, Amazon canceled its plans and has stated it won’t reopen the search process, but politicians in Binghamton are still hoping to draw the company’s attention. On Feb. 14, Broome County Executive Jason Garnar sent a letter to Amazon asking the company to consider Binghamton as a new site. In the letter, Garnar invited Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to visit Broome County to consider it as a location. Garnar said the company could provide new jobs in Binghamton as well as a new supply of tax revenue that would diffuse money from high-paying jobs throughout the city. He also said Amazon’s presence in the area would spur demand for service workers. “I wrote the letter to encourage Amazon — we see this project as a great
opportunity, to bring a lot of investment, to bring a lot of jobs here — to say, ‘We’d welcome you with open arms,’” Garnar said. “There’s a lot of available land in Broome County, and we’re in the middle of a number of large cities. I think that Amazon would bring in a lot of jobs and increase the demand for services. The increase in income would lift everyone up.” Garnar isn’t the only politician encouraging Amazon to rethink its headquarters. Rep. Anthony Brindisi (DNY), who represents New York’s 22nd congressional district, also wrote a letter to Amazon urging Bezos to visit central New York. The letter, which was cosigned by Rep. John Katko (R-NY), was sent on Feb. 15, just a day after the New York City plan fell through. In New York City, many residents feared gentrification, but Garnar said Binghamton wouldn’t respond to Amazon’s presence in the same way because the area does not face the same housing crisis as downstate. There is an abundance of affordable housing in the Southern Tier. “I don’t think it would cause some of the gentrification issues in New York
City — I’m not going to say that wasn’t a concern, but I don’t think those issues are new to New York,” Garnar said. “If there’s a demand in Broome County for housing, we could meet that.” Brindisi said the possible negative impacts of Amazon coming to central
Brindisi said. “That money could be used for education, infrastructure and the community’s needs. It would ultimately increase the tax base.” The company could also help the area retain talent, including students from local colleges such as Binghamton University. “I think Broome County is in a good position to respond to new workers — we’ve lost a lot of people over the years,” Garnar said. “Most people move downstate after they graduate to find work.” Garnar also noted that large businesses have nurtured Binghamton’s economy in the past, including IBM and the Endicott Johnson Corporation, and compared Binghamton to a “rust belt city,” which refers to an area where industries have left an economic gap. Garnar said max samson editorial artist he believes that gap could be filled by high-paying New York may be mitigated by the work for educated professionals. positives. “You look at this community 50, 60 “You have to be sensitive to years ago, we had the largest computer gentrification, but you also have to manufacturer in the world and the largest realize that a company like Amazon — shoe manufacturer in the world,” Garnar their employees and their company as a said. “Back then, they employed tens of whole — would be contributing so much thousands of people. And Binghamton revenue into local and state budgets,” was thriving.”
If Amazon were to set up a headquarters in Binghamton, Garnar said it would receive roughly the same incentives that it would have in its Long Island City location, including up to $1.7 billion in grants and tax breaks from New York state. He said a number of changes, including environmental reviews, land inspections and the construction of new housing, would need to occur in the city if Amazon came to Binghamton. “If they decided to do this in Broome County, they would get the same type of incentives that they got in New York City,” Garnar said. “Any time you bring 25,000 people into a community you have to say, ‘Alright, we have to develop the land, we have to build houses, we have to have a bunch of land for Amazon to build its housing on.’ We live in New York state, so there would be really careful reviews.” A few students held less optimistic views about an Amazon headquarters in Binghamton. Boaz Dolny-Lipsy, a junior majoring in political science, previously lived in the Bronx and plans to return after graduation. He said that as a native to New York City, he was concerned about an Amazon headquarters in Long Island City. “I was definitely worried about gentrification, especially as someone from the area who wants to live there,” Dolny-Lipsy said. “Just in my own interest, I felt worried as someone who wants to live in the city, but there are
see amazon page 3
BU Starbucks sees temporary shortages Cafe lacks ingredients after freight service goes bankrupt Laura D’Angelo news intern
Last week, Binghamton University students trying to grab a cup of coffee at the Starbucks cafe came across a sign from management. The sign announced that the cafe’s primary carrier in the Northeast had declared bankruptcy, impacting the company’s ability to provide supplies to the coffee shop in Hinman College. According to the sign, Starbucks “is delivering to the best of their ability,” which “is poor.”
Ben Forse, retail manager of Starbucks and Subway on campus, said the sign was communicating a temporary problem that was impacting the coffee shop’s ability to make multiple drinks. According to Forse, everything should be running smoothly again soon. “Our old vendor, New England Motor Freight, declared bankruptcy, and this caused our weekly delivery to be pushed back three days,” Forse said. ”As a result, we were temporarily out of several important beverage products.” Forse said the cafe has found a new temporary vendor to deliver products
see starbucks page 3
katherine scott pipe dream photographer All trash produced in the city of Binghamton must be placed in city-mandated blue bags to be collected.
Keynote speaker talks Bag system impacts student renters student engagement Students voice frustrations with paying for trash disposal Hannah Walter & David Julien pipe dream news
Binghamton averages 170 tons of garbage a week, all of which must be placed in city-mandated blue bags. But the policy, which started in 1991 as a way to encourage residents to recycle, puts the economic burden of trash collection on those living within city limits, including Binghamton University students. The garbage that is produced in the city goes to the Broome County Landfill in Binghamton, and in order to use the facility, the city is required to pay a “tipping fee” of $45 per ton of garbage. According
to Bernice St. Clair, acting commissioner of public works in the city of Binghamton, the tipping fee used to be part of property taxes, but the installation of the bluebags policy ended this practice, as money raised from residents purchasing blue bags underwrites the landfill expenses. Under the former system, which used property taxes to cover the tipping fee, property owners, including landlords, covered the costs of trash disposal, and renters, including student residents, did not have to pay to dispose of their waste. By instituting the policy, the cost was passed from property owners to renters. “When recycling started in 1991, the city eliminated the tipping-fee tax included on everyone’s property tax bill that was based solely on assessment,” St. Clair wrote in an email. “Instead, the city
ARTS & CULTURE Increase your confidence for job fair season with this pump-up playlist, SEE PAGE 6
went to the bag system, which charges residents for the amount of garbage they actually generate.” If residents do not use the blue bags, which can be purchased in medium and large sizes at stores like Wegmans and CVS, for their trash, garbage collectors will not pick it up. Jared Kraham, executive assistant to the mayor of Binghamton, said the program has helped offset the city’s payment for refuse collection, which includes the collection of trash, recyclables, yard waste and bulk items. Although the blue-bag system covers the expenses of the tipping fee, other trash-disposal costs still come from property taxes. “Taxpayers actually subsidize the cost,”
see bags page 3
Event concludes Black History Month celebrations Lakhsmi Chatterjee & Rose Coschignano pipe dream news
“Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often referred to as the Black National Anthem, could be heard from Old Union Hall on Friday as a group of roughly 75 attendees were led in song by the night’s keynote speaker, Marc Lamont Hill, a host of BET News and professor of media studies and production at Temple University . Binghamton University’s Black Student Union (BSU) and Multicultural
OPINIONS
DCP celebrates and embraces women’s empowerment at its annual “Vagina Monologues” performance, SEE PAGE 6
Research Center (MRC) hosted Hill and presented his speech as a conclusion to the events held to celebrate Black History Month on campus. Hill, a former political commentator for CNN and Fox News, spoke on a number of topics, ranging from the importance of student involvement in political organizations to the complex nature of the Black Lives Matter movement and BSU’s theme for Black History Month, “Resilience: Achieving Black Excellence in All Aspects.” After singing with the crowd, Hill said he thought the song was more relevant than ever.
see speaker page 3
SPORTS
Columnist Hannah Gulko contemplates how to a chieve happiness,
Men’s lacrosse defeated by Lafayette,
Women’s basketball earns road win over Vermont,
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