1. I don't think anybody here is arguing that the tax breaks for amazon were inherently bad, rather the argument is whether it's ok that the tax breaks are given only to select companies rather than across the board. Personally I think they should be making a better business friendly environment over all, I think it's better to have 1,000 companies create 25 jobs each than to have one company create 25,000 jobs.
I think the fact that NY isn't covering it's budget because everyone with money is fleeing to to lower tax states should be a much bigger story than Amazon.
2. There's a separate argument of whether having an Amazon move into and transform a neighborhood/city is a good thing or a bad thing.
right now, at least for this specific case of LIC, (smaller cities are probably different)) I'm leaning towards it being bad for the little guy. It seems to me that anyone who owns property in the area (+ ripple effect on surrounding areas) and certain businesses that'll benefit from the increased foot traffic / gentrification will make out really well. Everyone else will be hurt by the increased rents & strain on public infrastructure etc.