Controversial Developers Helping Yassky

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.  

http://vosizneias.blogspot.com/2006/05/brooklyn-ny-two-controversial.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/416574p-351957c.html