Amazon abruptly cancelled its plans to build a second headquarters in New York City, setting off a day of finger-pointing in the US and speculation about what the online giant is actually up to.

"You have to be tough to make it in New York City," tweeted New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio.  "We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world.  Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity."

Amazon in November announced it had reached a deal  to build a new headquarters campus in the Long Island City section of Queens.  But while Mayor De Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo were proud of landing the company, others felt that it wasn't worth it.  Amazon promised to create 25,000 jobs, and in exchange demanded and got a promise for US$3 Billion in tax incentives and other concessions that made progressives cringe.  Critics also say that Amazon's non-union jobs don't pay very well.  Oh, and there was that demand for a heliport be built for Amazon chief Jeff Bezos.

"Today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers and their neighbors defeated Amazon's corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the firebrand Democrat whose Congressional district is next door to the  site.  She says the $3 Billion should have been spent on education and other upgrades to the community that's already there.

Polls indicate that New Yorkers by a better than two-to-one margin approved of having Amazon move in Queens.  But they're almost evenly split on the tax incentives.  Google opened a major campus in New York City and promised to create just as many jobs as the Amazon deal, but did so without demanding tax incentives.

All this leaves New Yorkers speculating what Amazon's motive might have been.  Did the company simply get fed up with opposition from the streets, or did it find a better deal somewhere else?  Amazon claimed that the jobs planned for New York would be scattered at other company sites in the US, and that it was not going to replace the New York project.