Brooklyn, NY - Two Controversial Developers Are Pouring Thousands Into Councilman Yassky's Congressional Campaign

Brooklyn, NY - The Kestenbaum family and Joshua Guttman are just two of the land barons who have given more than $50,000 to Yassky, according to filings. "Subliminally or subconsciously, these folks probably get more access [to Yassky] when the phone rings," said Neal Rosenstein, a government reform coordinator for the New York Public Interest Research Group.

After Guttman's Greenpoint Terminal Market went up in flames in a suspicious fire last week, Yassky returned a $500 contribution. Guttman has denied involvement in the fire, the city's largest since 9/11.

A Williamsburg preservationists pointed to the Austin, Nichols & Co. warehouse at 184 Kent Ave., which the City Council voted not to give landmark status to in November. As representative of the district, Yassky was the force behind the nonlandmark vote.
The building is owned by brothers Louis and Moshe Kestenbaum - who in 1991 pleaded guilty to a scheme to sell cosmetics and groceries intended for the former Soviet Union. Instead, the Kestenbaums and three others were convicted of illegally selling them in the U.S. for a $4 million profit.

In the last two years, Yassky has gotten a total $2,100 from Louis Kestenbaum's son, Joel, and $3,000 from two Kestenbaum business associates.

Yassky officials said he was unaware of the Kestenbaums' crimes. "Experiences shows us that when a candidate is receiving hundreds if not thousands of contributions, it's next to impossible to know what each contributor has done years and years ago that might raise a question," said Yassky election lawyer Jerry Goldfeder. "We look at all the contribution checks, and we scrutinize them as best we can."