Amazon considering New York amid reports HQ will be split

New York is one of the finalists in Amazon's search to build another headquarters, according to a person familiar with the talks.

After a yearlong search for a second home, Amazon is now reportedly looking to build offices in two cities instead of one, a surprise move that could still have a major impact on the sites it ultimately selects.

According to the source, who was not authorized to discuss the negotiations and therefore spoke on condition of anonymity, one of the areas the online retail giant is considering is New York's Long Island City, a fast-changing neighbourhood just across the East River from Manhattan.

The source said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo met two weeks ago with Amazon officials in his New York City offices. Cuomo offered to travel to Amazon's Seattle hometown to continue talks, the source said.

On Monday, The New York Times, citing unnamed people familiar with the decision-making process, reported that the company is nearing deals to locate in Long Island City as well as the Crystal City section of Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC.

The Wall Street Journal, which also reported the plan to split the headquarters between two cities, said Dallas is also still a possibility.

Amazon.com Inc has declined to comment on the reports. Since it kicked off its hunt for a second headquarters in September 2017, Amazon has promised to bring 50,000 new high-paying jobs to one location, which founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said would be "a full equal" to its Seattle home base.

The company received 238 proposals before narrowing the list to 20 in January.

Earlier this month, Bezos said during an on-stage interview in New York that the final decision will come down to intuition: "You immerse yourself in that data, but then you make that decision with your heart," he said.