As cities around the country made bids to land Amazon’s second headquarters, lawmakers and residents were purposely left in the dark. Amazon required those involved in the process to sign nondisclosure agreements, leaving outsiders outraged when details of the deals were released only after they were finalized. Now, New York lawmakers are taking aim at this kind of secretive process. On Thursday, Councilman Brad Lander of Brooklyn will introduce legislation that would ban New York City from entering into nondisclosure agreements during negotiations for prospective development projects. In New York, officials gave Amazon city and state tax incentives and a state grant that together is worth roughly $3 billion, and approval to skirt the city’s land use review process.

Source: New York Times December 20, 2018 08:01 UTC