Not everyone in New York City celebrated the news that Amazon was coming to Queens and getting a plethora of benefits from the city to set up shop here. Now, New Yorkers are planning an Amazon protest on Cyber Monday.
Thousands of people are expected to gather at Court Square Park in Long Island City, Queens Monday evening for a Protect Queens #NoAmazonNYC protest.
The location is down the street from the Anable Basin Waterfront, the proposed location for Amazon HQ2 in Queens.
“The heartbeat of Queens is the working class and immigrants, not billionaires,” the event page for the Amazon protest reads. “At a time when our city is facing a crisis of affordability, New York is looking to pay Amazon, the richest corporation in the world, billions of dollars to gentrify Queens.”
The Cyber Monday Amazon protest is organized by NYC Democratic Socialists of America, Voices of Community Activists and Local Leaders, New York Communities for Change, Make the Road New York and more — groups that have been vocal against Amazon in Queens.
“Our communities need real investment, not displacement,” the event page reads. “It’s time for New York to #NoAmazonNYC.”
The Amazon protest in Court Square Park will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday.
Cyber Monday Amazon protest: online boycott
If you can’t attend the Amazon protest in Long Island City but you’re still against the tech giant coming to Queens, there is another way you can take action.
The Queens Anti-Gentrification Project and Amazons Against Amazon are calling for a Cyber Monday Amazon Blackout and Boycott, asking New Yorkers not to purchase anything on Amazon on one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.
“On this Cyber Monday, a fake holiday promoted by the tech giants, we are calling for a boycott and decentralized direct action against Amazon by groups and individuals interested in fighting for a future worth living,” the boycott event page reads. “We have had enough of the ‘gig economy’, the tech companies lying and exploiting our private lives and data for profit, the expanding militarization and surveillance of everyday life, the building of walls, and the expanding gap between the rich and the poor.”
The groups are also asking New Yorkers who aren’t excited about Amazon to call Queens elected officials and voice their opposition.
