Opinion

Costco’s tourist trap

What is it about New York politicians when it comes to big retailers?

When they are not spending all their energy on keeping them out, they are showering them with tax subsidies to get them in.

Today, we have fresh examples of both.

Queens Councilmember Costa Constantinides just announced a new effort to ensure Walmart will not be allowed into a proposed development in Astoria Cove. It’s just one part of the Walmart Free NYC campaign.

So hostile are these activists to the idea that ordinary New Yorkers might get Walmart jobs or benefit from Walmart’s low prices, they have even attacked the donations Walmart has made to local food pantries and the like.

Meanwhile, out on Long Island, officials are going to the opposite extreme. They’re trying to bribe Costco, a rival big-box retailer, into opening a store in Oceanside.

So determined is the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, it’s working overtime to get around state laws that prevent tax breaks for retailers.

The agency’s solution?

According to Newsday, it plans to make Costco eligible by defining it as a “tourist destination.”

All this is absurd. Where is the political support for the only truly sensible policy: making New York more attractive to all business investment, without the crony capitalism — and with the same set of rules for everyone?