Concerning 1. I believe that is often overlooked. It would not be hard (I suspect) to figure out the future effective tax revenue a municipality would receive.
Also, being a positive gain doesn't represent a good deal. We don't know what the lowest deal was that Amazon might have accepted (2 Billion? 1 Billion?) so even if NYC winds up in the black, they might have been leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the negotiating table.
It's just like anything, you might benefit from the price you pay but you might have been able to get it cheaper.
It's just like anything, you might benefit from the price you pay but you might have been able to get it cheaper.