Serving in his second term, Council Member David Yassky is among the Council's leading advocates for education reform, affordable housing, crime prevention, waterfront revitalization and the environment.

The Democratic Leadership Council named Yassky one of the "Top 100 New Democrats to Watch" in the nation and "Democrat of the Week". He was endorsed by The New York Times and has been called "the textbook definition of the sort of person who can change the council for the better" by Michael Tomasky of New York Magazine and "one of the Council's ablest members" by Tom Robbins of The Village Voice. The New York Post called his education platform "courageous," adding he?s "doing what?s right for kids."

Yassky has compiled an impressive record of legislative achievement in the City Council:

• Jobs and economic growth: David authored the Film Industry Job Creation Act, credited with bringing thousands of jobs to New York's film and television studios. David also pushed through the Council a plan to make Downtown Brooklyn the City?s third major business district, he created an Industrial Jobs Retention program to fund dedicated, low-cost space for manufacturing firms, and he helped expand the cruise ship industry in New York.
• Public Safety: He took on irresponsible gun companies with the Gun Industry Responsibility Act. This law will hold gun manufactures and dealers liable when their reckless sales practices result in the injury of a New Yorker.
• Environmental Protection: In the last election cycle, David was the only City Council Member to receive an "early endorsement" from the League of Conservation Voters, which called David?s Waterfront Planning Act "the most important piece of waterfront legislation adopted by the City in recent years." David created an innovative pilot program for clean-fuel taxicabs that got hybrid cabs on the road in NYC, sued Exxon-Mobil to force a cleanup of the Greenpoint oil spill, and his report on illegal dumping in New York waterways led to prosecution of one of the City's worst polluters.
• Affordable Housing: David?s Affordable Housing Zoning Initiative will create thousands of new moderately priced apartments. The plan creates zoning incentives for developers building luxury apartments in newly rezoned areas to finance companion affordable projects.

Before his election to the Council, Yassky had a distinguished career as a public servant, lawyer and educator. Working under Rep. Chuck Schumer, he helped enact the Brady Law, the Assault Weapons Ban, the Violence Against Women Act, and more than a dozen other significant anti-crime statutes. At the time, he was the youngest Committee or Subcommittee Chief Counsel in the House of Representatives. Yassky also taught at Brooklyn Law School. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Diana, and their daughters Susan and Margaret.

Entered City Council: 01/01/2002
Current Term Expires: 12/31/2009

Represents: Brooklyn Heights, Greenpoint; parts of Williamsburg, Park Slope, Boerum Hill

Committees: Small Business (Chair); Economic Development; Education; Finance; Lower Manhattan Redevelopment; Public Safety; Sanitation & Solid Waste Management