by Nellie 10 Replies latest jw friends
See....this is the downside to leaving the forum for a while - you KNOW you've missed out on great conversations and it takes f o r e v e r to find older threads.
So....help a-sista out....what's the 411 on the mass exodus from Brooklyn, the sale of the buildings, the $$$$ made, etc. Besides the obvious need to meet their legal payout needs (suppress all chuckles), has anyone followed the money trail? Wassup?
bump
A few nice properties sold for $4.1m - be sure to admire those humble interiors:
http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=2242264
http://www.corcoran.com/news/index.aspx?page=Article&pub_id=13036
Sadly the WBTS of NY has real estate valued at $1bn which it cannot sell at the moment due to a court order from the Candace Conti trial, although I understand this may not last for that long.
mmxiv
So what's the skinny on why they're doing this?
I think the stimulus for the Watchtower leaving Brooklyn was 911.
The destruction of the World Trade Center happened too close to the location of the Watchtower Headquaters!
The proceeds from the Brooklyn sales are either:
a) to build the new We're-Not-Really-Sure-If-Jehovah-Wants-Us-To-Build-It-But-We-Will-Anyway compound in upstate NY
or
b) to pay for the gazillions of child abuse cases about to surface after the recent California victory
I think the stimulus for the Watchtower leaving Brooklyn was 911.
Sorry (or happy) to say, dear VM (peace to you!), the exodus was planned... and started... long before 911. I visited in 1996 and was shocked at the "emptiness." Empty buildings (including residence halls)... and even an empty "Bethel." We visited the Legal Department which consisted of 3 people by that time (the "brother" who gave us the tour, whom I knew from home... who was a kind of paralegal... a secretary... and a clerk. The shelves were all empty (except for the old legal case books). The glass display cases that held casebooks open to the "famous" WT cases were still there but we were told those and the shelved books were in the process of being packed up. It was eerie it was so empty.
When we asked where "everyone" was, we were told that almost everyone had already move "to Patterson."
Anyone here that was at Bethel in the late 90's or so before 911 can correct me if I'm wrong... but that's what we saw and were told.
Again, peace to you!
A slave of Christ,
SA
interesting AGuest - they always did a good job of planning ahead . . .
The factory building has been transfomed into luxurious co-op apts, the real estate company trying to sell them ran ads in the papers and a few TV commercials, for the prices they're asking I'd like to know how many apts they've actually sold .
Ever since the veil has been lifted from my eyes the move to the "Compound" has really started to make sense. They are a PUBLISHING COMPANY,and cult run by men with a paranoid world view. Upstate on a compound it is MUCH easier to control information exchanges and leaks. They FEEL safer from the "world", AND it frees up MILLIONS (if not a Billion) of dollars of cash. They have moved from "Flipping" realestate with free labor, to Hedge fund operation. When I saw them on the exclusive London list of attendees at the Hedge Fund conference a light went off in my head. If they wanted,they could have simply invested with Wall Street's best....why do it yourself? hummm....... BINGO! They are a Multi-national, religious conglomerate, with dozens if not hundreds of corporate shells. In case of ban or law suits they can instantly transfer LIQUID funds between corporations and branches. 1. They can preserve capital (lawsuit protection). 2. Almost zero oversight by ANY one country (privacy). 3. Higher Internal Rate of Return. Heck with JWs in every obscure corner of the world, every company, every mine,and every shipping terminal they have incredible opportunities to know next weeks financial news today. Incredible access to information, and with a little Theocratic stratigy, and a few sharp Bethelites (possibly offshore) they have developed the best trading scam in the WORLD.
