VOA慢速英语2014 中国人和俄罗斯人购买昂贵的纽约房屋

 

AS IT IS 2014-07-12 Russians, Chinese Buying Pricey New York Homes 中国人和俄罗斯人购买昂贵的纽约房屋

Many wealthy people from around the world are buying small, but pricey homes in New York City. Foreign buyers are helping¹ to fuel a rise in condominium apartment prices. A condominium in Manhattan can cost millions of dollars. But such homes are often less costly² compared to other big cities.

Canadian, Chinese and Russian buyers are said to make up the majority of non-U.S. investors³ in Manhattan’s pricey neighborhoods. Some paid tens of millions of dollars or more for a condo they have never even visited.

A building called “One57” is the tallest residential⁴ structure in the Americas. It has 90 floors. On the upper floors, people can see New York’s famous Central Park. Work on the building is not yet finished. But many of the apartments already have sold. Two of them reportedly sold for more than $90 million each. 

Jeannie Woodbrey is the sales director for One57. She describes what she calls one of its smallest apartments. It costs almost $19 million.

“The ceilings obviously are 10 foot seven (inches) (3.17 meters). This is our lowest ceiling height, and Christian⁵ de Portzamparc, who was the exterior⁶ architect, designed walls of glass, so you really have no break in the views whatsoever⁷, and that’s really the drama in all of our apartments.”

About half of the building’s apartment owners are from outside the United States. 

Nikki Field and Daniel Chang work for Sotheby’s International Realty, which sells homes worldwide. They often travel to China to meet people who might like to buy American properties.

(Field): Most all of them were drawn⁸ to the United States. Why was that?”

(Chang) “Well I think the U.S. is, has really a stable political environment. It’s kind of like put(ting) a safe-deposit box in (the) city that it will pay for itself, it will appreciate, and they don’t have to worry about any property being confiscated⁹.”

One57 will soon be the second-tallest residential building in the western hemisphere. Another, bigger apartment building is rising near Central Park. Homes there will cost more than those in One57. Daniel Chang says he believes people from China will really like the new building.

“The first thing (that) come(s) to their mind is Central Park. So, they, most of my clients want Central Park views, and a building surrounding Central Park.”

At one time, more Russians than Chinese bought property in Manhattan. But that has changed recently. Now, only Canadian purchasers buy more homes in New York City than Chinese.  Diane Francis is both a U.S. and Canadian citizen; she lives part of the time in New York. She says foreign buyers are good for the city.

“We’re the solution, not the problem, to your economic issues, to your economic inequality. We employ people, we spend billions, we invest here.”

Ms. Francis says wealthy people are buying high-end apartments in New York both as an investment and as a way to keep their money safe. She says some Chinese may be worried about the country’s new anti-corruption¹⁰ policies.

“Some of them are fleeing regimes that they’re concerned about destabilizing, or currencies they’re worried about. Or in the case of China -- and I’m not saying this, I don’t wanna besmirch¹¹ all the Chinese that are coming to New York and will come to New York and the United States to buy real estate -- but there is a crackdown on corruption in China and a lot of people who have hidden away money that they haven’t told the government about wanna get it out. And they're getting it out by buying a condo here in someone else's name.”

Critics say the high-priced apartments are a sign of growing inequality. Many of the apartments are unoccupied most of the year. Because the owners gained their wealth outside the United States, they do not pay taxes on their income. And government officials wanting to bring wealthy people to the city sometimes lower property taxes on the apartments. For example, a home at One57 listed at $36 million will be taxed less than $500 a month.

Even defenders¹² agree the rise in high-end homes is helping to drive up housing prices throughout the city. This makes New York too pricey for those who are not rich. 

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

5 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 exterior   

adj.外部的，外在的；表面的

参考例句：

• The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
• We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。

7 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

10 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

11 besmirch   

v.污，糟蹋

参考例句：

• He has accused local people of trying to besmirch his reputation.他指责当地人企图败坏他的名声。
• The scandalous remarks in the newspaper besmirch the reputations of every member of the society.报刊上那些恶意中伤的报道败坏了该社团全体成员的名声。

12 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》