rant · moment 2 of 18
Infrastructure Strain and Subway Costs
from Growing Up Gottschee with Dan St. Germain · #122
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
5 minThe group debates whether the subway and other infrastructure can handle the influx of new workers, citing the $4 billion cost of new subway stations, MTA dysfunction, and comparisons to Google's presence in San Francisco.
- 4:31Every new subway station in New York costs about four billion dollars.
- 5:15Tim argues the real concern is infrastructure strain from influx—trains are already stretched during rush hour.
- 5:3625,000 to 30,000 jobs is relatively minor, but Amazon's arrival could be just the beginning of expansion.
- 6:10Tim thinks the city needs to fix existing subway infrastructure and add trains, not necessarily build new stations.
- 7:00Amazon picked Long Island City partly because it was friendly to gay people and could attract tech talent easily.
- 7:34Queens remains a holdout of mom-and-pop stores and small businesses, but gentrification will likely destroy that character.
- 8:07Dumping money into city coffers won't help much due to latent corruption and inefficiency.
- 8:26Tim explains that Amazon workers earning $100,000 to $200,000 will spend at upscale restaurants, not local corner stores where immigrant families make $60,000 a year.
AmazonLong Island CityQueensCornellNew York CityRoosevelt IslandGoogleUpper East SideWilliamsburg