I ‘Amazon’ New York? City sells out iconic logo to woo Bezos

This is what selling out a city looks like

New York City wooed Amazon in what was probably one of the most obvious results of a year-long spectacle that pit city against city in a competition to secure the tech company's second headquarters. And this week, the New York City Economic Development Corporation launched a new website for HQ2 and made public its pitch to Jeff Bezos.

The 80-page proposal includes typical municipal posturing about workforce talent, "world-class culture and creativity," "outstanding transit options for all modes of travel," and "top educational institutions." But on the very first page of the New York metro area's response to the HQ2 RFP was a troubling symbol: The iconic "I ❤️ NY" logo bastardized with Amazon's grinning arrow in lieu of the bright read heart.

This is what selling out a city looks like.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would change his name to "Amazon Cuomo" and rename Newtown Creek—which separates Long Island City, where Amazon will situate its HQ2, from Greenpoint—the "Amazon River" to curry favor with Bezos. But to redraw one of the most beloved and meaningful civic icons?! It shows just how eager Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio were to remake New York in Amazon's image—literally.

Designed by Milton Glaser in 1977, the "I ❤️ NY" logo was part of a campaign to entice tourists to visit New York City and state. At the time, NYC was experiencing a financial crisis and high crime rates; the image it projected to outsiders wasn't exactly positive. The New York State Department for Economic Development, now known as Empire State Development, commissioned the advertising agency Wells Rich Greene to come up with a tourism campaign—they created the "I Love New York" slogan—and invited Glaser to collaborate with them on a logo.

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Designed by Milton Glaser in 1977, the "I ❤ NY" logo has transcended its tourism campaign roots to become a great civic symbol of New York

As the story goes, Glaser doodled the logo on the back of en envelope in red crayon while he was riding in a cab. (The concept sketch, from 1976, is now part of MoMA's collection.) He decided to stack the letters in a square shape, reminiscent of Robert Indiana's 1970 Love sculpture. He initially picked the American Typewriter font for the letters, but redrew it slightly to make the letters and heart symbol more compatible.

Glaser designed the logo pro bono because it was benefitting New York state. For the first 10 years after the logo was introduced, it was not copyrighted to encourage people to use it, spread it around, and let it become part of the culture.

Even though the logo was designed to help New York make money, over time it transcended its tourism-boosting beginnings and was anointed as one of the greatest symbols of civic pride—ever. It's sacrilegious to rip out its warm, lovable heart and transplant the comic smirk of a late capitalist corporation in its stead.

Today, ESD owns all the rights to the I ❤️ NY logo and because of that, doesn't consult with Glaser about how it uses it or adapts it. It's most commonly seen today emblazoned on souvenirs, and merchandise sporting the logo generates about $30 million annually (ESD agency gets a cut of the profit).

"Outside of copyrighting everything you do there is almost no way of protecting your work from being imitated," Glaser told Curbed via email. "In this particular case, the Amazon logo is not very harmonious with the rest of the logo."

New York's response to Amazon's HQ2 RFP included a neon logo where the Watchtower sign once was.

The logo isn't the only place where New York sold out in its Amazon proposal. One image in a section promoting the Brooklyn Tech Triangle as a potential HQ2 site shows a neon-red Amazon logo where the iconic Watchtower sign once was. A rendering of the BIG-designed 2 World Trade Center skyscraper, which has yet to materialize on the skyline, was modified to read: "Priming us to never leave the house" and "Amazon.com and you are done." The proposal suggested that Governors Island—one of the city's best public spaces, boasting an impressive collections of historic buildings—could become an "island retreat" and proposed Amazon naming rights in exchange for co-developing some of the buildings.

"Companies don't just come to New York, they become part of New York, interconnected with our civic life, our institutions, and our broader economy," de Blasio wrote in a letter to Bezos that appears in the RFP response. "We want Amazon to become part of the New York Story."

Before the HQ2 competition, Amazon was already part of the New York story. Now, it will take on an even bigger role. Just please keep it away from the logo.