Financial prowess

“For me, at my stage, my age, it’s only about relationship, picking the right partner that I trust, that has credibility,” Fuld said.

He has been accused of helping to precipitate the financial crisis and for the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Fuld ran Lehman Brothers from the firm’s 1994 spinoff from American Express until 2008, when the 158-year-old Wall Street firm filed for bankruptcy.

China has made some news in that other city on the Hudson in recent years, including such spectacular deals as the $1.95 billion purchase of the Waldorf Astoria New York hotel by the Anbang Insurance Group Co in October 2014.

Also, Hudson Yards, a massive development by the Related Companies, is in the works on Manhattan’s West Side. It will include 18 million square feet of commercial and residential development space, more than 100 shops, 20 restaurants, 5,000 residences, 14 acres of public open space, a public school and a luxury hotel. Related says it will draw more than 24 million visitors a year and create more than 23,000 construction jobs.

That project will receive some of its funding from Chinese investors through the EB-5 program.

Related Companies CEO Jeff Blau said that if EB-5 didn’t exist or were eliminated it wouldn’t derail Hudson Yards but would have increased its cost and completion timetables.

Contact the writer at williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com.

Hezi Jiang and Paul Welitzkin contributed to this story.