Amazon faced opposition from some New Yorkers after announcing plans to put part of its HQ2 project in Queens. (GeekWire Photo / Monica Nickelsburg)

Amazon spent more than a year looking for its “HQ2,” planning to establish a second headquarters equal to its Seattle home, before surprising everybody by instead splitting the giant project between New York City and Arlington, Va.

Now, after facing initial opposition from some New York community and state leaders, the company this morning said, well, nevermind.

As we discuss on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, it’s latest sign of a very different Amazon. In the past, the hard-charging company that we know here in Seattle would have forged ahead with the NYC project, opposition be damned. 

Maybe this new sense of pragmatism is a good thing for the company, but after searching the continent and deliberating for so long, Amazon’s apparent inability to anticipate and manage the opposition in New York makes the whole HQ2 process seem half-baked, and the abrupt cancellation makes the company seem wishy-washy.

Listen to the podcast above for the initial reactions from GeekWire’s John Cook, Monica Nickelsburg and me, or subscribe to the GeekWire Podcast in your favorite podcast app.

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