Transition of Forest Hills (sales, rental, home sales)

[pierrepont7731]

Originally Posted by gen2010

it is crazy to believe that chinese bring physical cash to buy a house. you think they are stupid?
There are many banks with chinese connections extend loan to chinese nationals and they do not require income proof.

Point is they don't believe in the traditional financing options we have in place. They like to pay in cash. I've always heard that they come with cash.

[shadypinesma]

I know for a fact Chinese come with cash.

My aunt's best friend just sold her house in Flushing. Over 1.5 million. Cash. For a house they inherited mortgage free in the 1970s from their parents. They took the money and moved to Dix Hills with the windfall.

[under a mountain]

Originally Posted by shadypinesma

I know for a fact Chinese come with cash.

My aunt's best friend just sold her house in Flushing. Over 1.5 million. Cash. For a house they inherited mortgage free in the 1970s from their parents. They took the money and moved to Dix Hills with the windfall.

Hills, that is.
Swimming pools, movie stars.

[gen2010]

why there is such stereotype? There are chinese who own restaurants who pay cash, there are chinese who work in wall street who will never pay cash. there are 800k chinese living in NYC. there may be a few chinese who carry a bag of greenback. but 99.9% do not carry cash around. People pay cash for house and it does not mean they pay physical cash. it is just that they do not finance

Originally Posted by pierrepont7731

Point is they don't believe in the traditional financing options we have in place. They like to pay in cash. I've always heard that they come with cash.

[gen2010]

yes, cash, but in the form of a check. who would accept a bag of cash. not afraid of counterfeit?

Originally Posted by shadypinesma

I know for a fact Chinese come with cash.

My aunt's best friend just sold her house in Flushing. Over 1.5 million. Cash. For a house they inherited mortgage free in the 1970s from their parents. They took the money and moved to Dix Hills with the windfall.

[pierrepont7731]

Originally Posted by gen2010

why there is such stereotype? There are chinese who own restaurants who pay cash, there are chinese who work in wall street who will never pay cash. there are 800k chinese living in NYC. there may be a few chinese who carry a bag of greenback. but 99.9% do not carry cash around. People pay cash for house and it does not mean they pay physical cash. it is just that they do not finance

Stereotypes exist because there's some truth to them. Wasn't really talking about Chinese-Americans, but rather the ones off of the boat. You seem well versed enough to know how they like to deal.

[Dave 92 LSC]

I grew up in feet hills since 1992 till about 2007. Russian Jews of the 70s or 80s was not the problem. Problems came with low class village type Buharian Jews that are in late 90s.

Not only did they ruin the vibe, but they destroyed the area with tasteless homes, all with questionable financial gains that I rather not discuss.

Needless to say mostly everyone I knew from forest hills high school fled the area to other paces.

Area is changing once again. Lots of Uzbek and Asians moving in.

You can’t get mad a this. America is an immigrant nation. It’s not a country. It’s a trading post. Always was and will be.

[Cinema Cat]

Originally Posted by Dave 92 LSC

America is an immigrant nation. It’s not a country. It’s a trading post. Always was and will be.

No, it wasn't always so. America was not conceived of as an "immigrant nation." In 1790, immigration was restricted to "free white persons of good character." Not saying it was good or bad, but it was so.

Nor was it an uncommon concept, to limit immigration to people similar to the host population. To this day, many Islamic nations restrict immigration to Muslims, and Israel restricts immigration to Jews. China, Japan, and even Mexico have far more restrictive immigration policies than the modern U.S.

The Statue of Liberty did not arrive with that Emma Lazarus poem -- "Give me your tired, etc." The statue was given to us by the French in 1876. The poem was only added in 1903.

The Statue was intended to honor the fraternal and ideological ties (i.e., Liberty) between the American and French revolutions. The Lazarus poem reinterpreted the Statue in many people's minds as honoring immigration. But that was not the original intent.

That America was not "a nation of immigrants" was reaffirmed in the 1883 Chinese Exclusion Act, and again in 1924 in the ethnically restrictive Immigration Act.

Despite the Lazarus poem, this new "nation of immigrant" idea only took root during and after World War Two, partially as war propaganda. The films of the 1930s, but even more so the WW2 era films, pushed this "nation of immigrants" idea as the original American conception, thus re-writing history (i.e., lying about history). It was war propaganda, intended to unify the nation behind fighting Germany and Japan.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Originally Posted by Bultaco

I know this is going to be misinterpreted, but it is surprising to me that this community, coming from a a part of the world that is not considered prosperous, seems to be able to afford these expensive homes. I don't think they are gaming the system here, because they seemed to arrive with a great deal of resources. Remember this transition has been in progress for nearly 40 years. The Bukharans that I know are dentists and pharmacists. Those are good professions, but is it enough to generate enough money for one of these mansions? And, no. I'm not envious. The mansions do not appeal to me at all. But that's neither here, nor there.
One thought occurred to me. Do you know how the US and other countries send aid to foreign countries? I always thought that that money is not carefully accounted for. Could irregularities with that be a source for their prosperity?

Pharmacists, and dentists make good money as long as they have wealthy clients to cater to first. That is the thing with a lot of ethnic medical professionals. Every one says, we are successful because we have doctors or lawyers, and such, but doctors and lawyers only successful, if there is successful clientele.

These immigrant doctors and lawyers usually only serve their own kind. So its a chicken or the egg situation.

Originally Posted by Sk8Str8

My old Buk barbers that had a shop in Ozone Park told me "They love America, because it's a country that they can easily f@ck!" Alot of barbershop in Qns are run by them, as well as shoe cobblers. One of the doctor's that I work with who is from Uzbekistan told me these guys do very financially well. It's all cash, and if they have a busy shop, he said they are making two hundred grand a year. That's what he told me, dont know if it's true, but I see alot of Buk barbers driving luxury cars. Oh yeah, they all live in Rego Park, FH area.

But how shoe cobbler make any money when you have Nike, Skeckers, Doc Martins etc etc out there. Those are cobbler corporation, and they have the market cornered.

You should also see other barbers making that kind of money or follow that cash only model. Actually I really need to do some scouting. I used to go to this barber in Whitestone in the plaza with the NYSC, but I think they are Armenian by the names they go by. I want to see how many barber shops are owned by Bukharians. I one near me I use is, but there are several chinese barbers here too.

Originally Posted by pierrepont7731

It shouldn't be that much of a shock that they have money when they run mainly CASH ONLY businesses like barber shops. Hello!?!?!? Pretty easy to hide income...

Not everyone earning cash business is seriously wealthy though. Or else being a barber be more attractive job.

Originally Posted by pierrepont7731

That's what the Chinese do.... Bring suitcases full of cash... Easy to get loans too knowing someone that knows someone....

Plenty of them dont though. Or else you wont have all those chinese american banks that only cater to chinese springing up. Flushing itself if packed with banks as was the old Manhattan Chinatown. With Chinese banks, and American banks. Even the American Banks see the chinese as great customers.

Originally Posted by Cinema Cat

Because they are "former Soviet Jews" they qualify for immediate social security, medicare, medicaid, welfare, food stamps, federal loans, student aid -- all U.S. citizen's entitlements -- upon entering. Here's why:

Refugees don't have to wait in line to enter (as do normal immigrants), and don't have to wait at least five years before receiving citizens' entitlements (e.g., social security, food stamps, etc.).

And if you have "automatic refugee status," this means you don't have to prove you're persecuted. It's assumed you are, because of your ethnicity or point of origin.

During the Cold War, Soviet Jews (but not Soviet Orthodox Christian) qualified for "automatic refugee status." So did all Cubans, Vietnamese, and Nicaraguans.

This was largely Cold War propaganda policy. It was America's way of embarrassing these nations. Putting Cuba on the list was a way of getting back at Castro. Ditto putting Vietnam on the list after we lost the Vietnam War. Reagan added Nicaragua in the 1980s, because it was controlled by the Sandanista Communists.

In the 1970s, the American "Soviet Jewry" lobby pressured U.S. politicians to add Soviet Jews to the list. It was also good Cold War propaganda. Adding Soviet Jews to the list was a way of accusing Soviets of anti-Semitism.

Here's the thing. All these nations had restrictive emigration policies. Only a few people in each group managed to escape every year. So the U.S. never expected "automatic refugee status" to cost much.

Then in 1991, the Soviet Union fell. A couple of million Jews emigrated over the next several years, many to the U.S. There were no immigration barriers to letting them in. No waiting lists. Over a million entered, immediately qualifying for all manner of welfare, food stamps, business loans, etc. Jewish agencies were very aggressive in bringing them in, helping them settle, and getting them signed up for government benefits.

Now, it really made no sense to grant Soviet Jews automatic refugee status. If they were oppressed, they could go to Israel. Taking in oppressed Jews was the rationale for Israel's existence. If Soviet Jews preferred the U.S., they could go to Israel, then wait to enter the U.S. like everyone else. Especially since the Soviet Union no longer existed to oppress anyone.

Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich thought so. In 1995, during his omnibus welfare reform legislation, he closed the loophole for Soviet Jews. No more automatic refugee status. No more automatic benefits. Wait in line to enter the U.S., like everyone else.

But the Jewish lobby sprang into action. Within a few months, and speared-headed by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), the loophole was re-opened, allowing unimpeded entry into the U.S. for former Soviet Jews (but not gentiles), with automatic, full citizen's entitlements.

Now you know why almost all "Russians" you see in the U.S. are Jewish, and not Russian Orthodox. You also know why these Jews were suddenly able to start businesses and buy homes.

Conservative love to bash "Mexicans on welfare." I even heard Curtis Sliva, in the 2000s, praise Soviet Jews for, unlike those nasty "illegal immigrants," obeying U.S. immigration law. Curtis tactfully omitted that it's easy to obey immigration laws when they don't apply to you. When your lobby is so powerful that you can just come in, bring the family, and here are all your checks.

So in a way, they are gaming the system.

Originally Posted by Dave 92 LSC

You can’t get mad a this. America is an immigrant nation. It’s not a country. It’s a trading post. Always was and will be.

Nah, we excluded the chinese from this country at one point altogether after they had already arrived.

[BlakeJones]

that's so funny, my barber is also an Uzbeki jew, who knew it was a thing. He sure doesn't own a McMansion though, he barely gets by cutting hair, fixing watches, and selling bootleg DVDs