Like many a New Yorker born and raised in Forest Hills, Queens, JetBlue was toying with the idea of moving to sunny Orlando, Fla. But it announced yesterday that it will not only stay in its hometown,
it will promote New York tourism on every flight and may even paint Milton Glaser's seminal "I [heart] New York" logo on the side of its planes, Adam Lisberg reports.
"We carry the banner
of 'New York's Hometown Airline' with pride," says JetBlue CEO Dave Barger. "It was so much more than just the cost side of the equation."
Which is not to say more than $30 million
worth of tax breaks and subsidies didn't enter into a computation that will result in the airline renovating a building in Long Island City to be its new headquarters. "We do think we'll get our money
back reasonably quickly," New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "If the business wasn't here, you wouldn't get anything."
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