On 60 Minutes Sunday, an exclusive interview with Mikhail Prokhorov; no sign it will look closely at Atlantic Yards

So Russian mogul Mikhail Prokhorov, expected majority owner of the New Jersey Nets, sits down for an exclusive interview with 60 Minutes, to be broadcast Sunday.

From the teaser:

Prokhorov, perhaps Russia's richest man, discusses the Nets, his vast wealth and the surprisingly unusual way he made most of his money in his first American television interview to be broadcast this Sunday, March 28, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

"I am real excited to take the worst team of the league and turn it to be the best," says Prokhorov. Asked by Kroft if he really thinks he can pull it off, the 6-foot-8-inch billionaire responds, "I am confident. Do you remember in the Frank Sinatra song, 'New York, New York?' If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere," he tells Kroft with a laugh.

Given the indication that the interview will focus on Prokhorov's celebrity and likely look closely only at his fortune, my comment:

So, 60 Minutes has a "get," an exclusive interview.

Here's what 60 Minutes (apparently) doesn't get: Prokhorov, as team and arena owner, would be the beneficiary of hundreds of millions of dollars in direct subsidies; city, state, and federal tax breaks (and tax-exempt bonds); and the extraordinary power of eminent domain.

Do you think New York legislators and officials would've have slobbered quite the same way for a sports team and arena--one that the NYC Independent Budget pegs as a money-loser for the city--if they knew they were helping out Russia's richest man?

More here:

http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2009/09/thought-experiment-what-if-prokohorov.html

http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2009/09/net-gain-to-ratner-loss-to-public-ibo.html

http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2010/03/jay-z-markowitz-cult-of-celebrity-and.html