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Amazon eyeing NYC and D.C. areas to split HQ2, reports say

Amazon may split HQ2 into two locations: one near New York City and another in a suburb of Washington D.C., reports The New York Times.
(Photo: Getty Images)

Amazon may split its second headquarters between two locations, according to the latest report from The Wall Street Journal.

Citing a "person familiar with the matter," the Journal reports the reason for the split would be to recruit more talented workers and reduce issues with housing and transportation.

The New York Times reports Amazon is nearing deals to move to the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York. And splitting HQ2 with the Crystal City area, a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Over the weekend, The Washington Post cited unnamed sources when it reported that Amazon was seriously considering Crystal City. It's a large residential and office complex in Arlington County, Virginia, just south of Washington. Crystal City is served by Washington's Metro subway system.

An Amazon executive reacted negatively on Twitter to the Post's report.

Mike Grella, Amazon's director of economic development public policy, tweeted: “Memo to the genius leaking info about Crystal City, VA as #HQ2 selection. You’re not doing Crystal City, VA any favors. And stop treating the NDA you signed like a used napkin.”

Grella didn't say the Post's report was untrue.

For the most part, Amazon has remained quiet on the matter.

The company announced last year that it was looking to open a second headquarters somewhere in the U.S., bringing with it as many as 50,000 new jobs. Several state and local governments threw their hats in the ring, offering Amazon millions in tax incentives if they opened their new headquarters in their city. Amazon received 238 proposals from cities in the U.S. and Canada.

RELATED: Amazon HQ2 timeline

By January, the company announced it had narrowed down the finalist cities to 20, 19 in the U.S. and one in Canada. Teams reportedly visited representatives from all the finalists over the spring and summer - though details on the visits are scarce.

In September, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said the company would announce its decision by the end of the year.

Though cities across the country, including one on the West Coast, were considered finalists, Northern Virginia has long been viewed as a likely choice. A GeekWire analysis of Amazon job postings found the D.C. area had the most open positions in the past several months. Three of the 20 finalists for the headquarters are located in the area.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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