From 30,000 feet, Amazon’s abandonment of its proposed new headquarters in New York City might seem a chance, as Bostonian snobs like to put it, for the light to dawn on Marblehead.

Slathering on tax abatements and infrastructure promises to lure new development may be irresistible for communities but is always a second-best idea. For New York it was especially unnecessary given all the city’s attractions. The city would be better off giving all businesses a tax cut.