How much does JetBlue love New York?

Easy, $10 million of tax breaks and public assistance worth. Oh, and a joint branding deal for the iconic "I Love NY" logo to boot.

The airline said Monday it will keep its corporate headquarters in Queens, N.Y., instead of relocating to Orlando, Fla. JetBlue has been mulling a move for over a year, with the lead candidate being Orlando, the site of its training facility.

JetBlue is the only airline based in the Empire State and is now the biggest carrier at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The airline's first flight took off from JFK on Feb. 11, 2000.

Nostalgia, however, was not what kept JetBlue from taking up residence near Disney World. Nor was it an affinity for Woody Allen movies, Broadway shows, the New York Yankees or the world's best bagels.

No, it turns out what really kept JetBlue, which bills itself as "New York's Hometown Airline," in its hometown is a healthy schmear of taxpayer subsidies. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who just happens to be richer than Scrooge McDuck himself, said the city will invest up to $3 million in the airline's Kennedy Airport Terminal, on top of a $7 million tax exemption. In return, JetBlue said it will stay put and create up to 200 new jobs in the city over the next five years.

We say that's a lot of taxpayer dollars at risk for a Mickey Mouse number of jobs generated. And if corporations keep playing municipalities against each other like this, things are going to get downright Goofy.

Dumb-o-meter score: 75 -- JetBlue took a $10 million bite out of the Big Apple.

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He has said he favours a settlement, but plans to analyse it carefully to make sure it is fair.

The deal was announced on Thursday night after years of fighting in court. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: "I think it's a good settlement for everybody

. This takes care of civilians and uniform service members, it takes care of the private contractors who were brought in."

The settlement – agreed by lawyers representing the city authorities, construction firms and the workers – was announced by WTC Captive Insurance, a special entity established to indemnify the city and its contractors against potential legal action as they moved to clean up the site after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

US federal judge Alvin Hellerstein must approve the deal, along with the workers themselves. For the settlement to be enforced, 95 per cent of the workers would need to agree to be bound by its terms. A settlement would mean the postponement or cancellation of trials tentatively scheduled to begin in May.

Some of the cases scheduled to be heard first included a firefighter who died of throat cancer and another who needed a lung transplant, as well as workers with less serious ailments.

The deal would make the city and other companies represented by the insurer liable for a minimum of $575m, with more money available to the sick if certain conditions are met. Most, if not all, of the money would come out of a $1 billion grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Workers who wish to participate in the settlement would need to prove they had been at the World Trade Centre site or other facilities that handled debris. They also would have to turn over medical records and provide information aimed at weeding out fraudulent or dubious claims.

Thousands of police, firefighters and construction workers who were at the 16-acre site have filed lawsuits against the city, claiming it sent them to Ground Zero without proper protective equipment. Many claim to have fallen ill, with most complaining of a respiratory problem similar to asthma.