There been a huge wave of post-Soviet immigration to New York in early nineties. A certain amount of people still presume that people in that wave were all Sov

There been a huge wave of post-Soviet immigration to New York in early nineties. A certain amount of people still presume that people in that wave were all Soviet dissidents, intelligentsia, and repressed jews, and etc. It only came to New Yorkers years later that whom they let in were faaaar from being some poor average Soviet citizens. CPSU members themselves, mafia, ex-spooks. Back in nineties, an average Russian citizens would need to save for years just to buy a one way ticket to US, and legal paperwork. Nobody, no regular person in early nineties Russia had money to just to fly to US, and buy a NYC apartment for cash. A price of a NYC apartment was a few lifetimes worth of savings for even best paid people in union's government.