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Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park infographics: what's built/what's coming/what's missing, who's responsible, + project FAQ/timeline (pinned post)

In South Korea, unlike China, NYCRC promises a dollop of interest to sweeten the Brooklyn Arena and Infrastructure Project

Maybe potential immigrant investors from China really are seen to be dumber, or more desperate.

Remember, the New York City Regional Center (NYCRC) promises them zero interest on the $500,000 they would park in the Brooklyn Arena and Infrastructure Project, which is supposed to get them and their families green cards.

(Here's an FAQ on the dubious promises and misleading promotion. Forest City Ratner would save big, though there wouldn't be any new jobs, the ostensible justification for the federal program.)

In South Korea

In South Korea, however, the web site (machine translation excerpted at right) of the Kookmin migration consulting firm shows that investors would earn an annual .25% dividend rate, less than the 1% and 2.5% on two other projects represented by the firm, but at least something.

That would cut slightly into Forest City Ratner's savings on the $249 million loan, which I've estimated at $191 million.

While the NYCRC's efforts have been concentrated in China--a promotional video has Borough President Marty Markowitz claiming "there's nothing better than China and Brooklyn together"--the chart indicates that the firm is seeking 40 of 498 investors from Korea.

A dubious connection

As the screenshot at left suggests, Kookmin has layered on an advertisement for "US Immigration Support" on top of backing documents for the NYCRC project.

(At left is a boilerplate letter from the Empire State Development Corporation affirming that the state has invested $100 million in the Atlantic Yards project--not the same thing as the Brooklyn Arena and Infrastructure Project being marketed to potential immigrant investors.)

But what's "US Immigration Support"? Despite a dot-org web address and patriotic iconography in its logo (below), it's very much a business.

If you want to learn about green cards through investment, you've got to pay $59.95. After all, as described, "U.S. Immigration Support is a leading publisher of legal books and immigration guides."

No address is provided, but a Better Business Bureau listing--which has no report attached--places the company in Manhattan, at 511 6th Avenue.

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