This is a story that asks questions that will lead to more questions, allowing the reader to draw conclusions that will raise more questions.

This is a story about the fabled 11th Congressional District in Brooklyn, created by the 1965 Voting Rights Act (that elected Shirley Chisholm to Congress), encompassing Park Slope, Crown Heights, Flatbush, Brownsville and Prospect Heights, with a population of 654,361 – 57 percent of whom are Black, 24 percent white and 12 percent Latino, according to data provided by Congressman Major Owens.

The 11th Congressional District is now a battleground, according to some observers, in the fight to maintain Black voter empowerment.

In political terms, the campaign for the 11th is the run for an “open seat,” meaning Owens is stepping down, which opened the door for City Councilman David Yassky, labeled as an “intruder” by some, for tossing his hat into a primary race for a congressional seat that has been designated for Black representation. Assemblyman Nick Perry, a candidate for the September Democratic primary, had called Yassky’s congressional ambitions “callous and selfish” until last week.

There are now three Blacks left in the race: Councilwoman Yvette Clarke (D-East NY), State Senator Carl Andrews and the incumbent’s son, Chris Owens, who has never held elected office.

Yassky, who had no trouble talking to the New York Times and the Daily News, but will speak only through a spokesman when dealing with the Amsterdam News, told the Times, according to the Gotham Gazette, “This is such an opportunity for the people of Brooklyn to say that we’re all in this together and to talk and vote as Brooklynites and not as members of one group or another.”

According to the Gotham Gazette, Yassky, “who until recently did not live in the 11th District,” has raised more money than “any other Democratic candidate running for an open seat in the entire country.” The Federal Election Commission said that as of March 31, Yassky had raised $857,765.

“Councilman Yassky’s energy and ideas for the 11th District have inspired more than 1,300 people to give to his campaign. They know that this is an important election, and that David (Yassky) can do the most for this city,” stated the release, read over the telephone by Yassky for Congress spokesman Evan Thies.

For Assemblyman Perry, the voters in the 11th needed to be wary of the reasons those 1,300 people had for donating funds to the Yassky campaign, people such as David Rockefeller.

Perry had managed to raise $167,000, and cited money as the issue that drove him from the race. In a recent interview with the Amsterdam News, just before he bowed out of the race, Perry stated that he felt that for an open seat race it should cost $300,000 to $400,000.

“But, Yassky’s ability to collect money from wealthy donors outside of New York raises the bar,” argued Perry, adding that there might be a general consensus that money can buy a congressional seat, but that the voters of the 11th should be wary of any such concept.

Chris Owens said that his father, 12-term Cong. Major Owens, had to raise over $400,000 in 2000 to beat back the charging Una Clarke. But, he said that he knew this primary would be as contentious and that lots of money would be needed. Owens told the Amsterdam News that the money interests had to do with this being an open seat race.

“This is a rare opportunity for interested parties to get in the mix, because the re-election rate for incumbents in the House of Representatives is 98 percent,” Owens stressed.

“I told my father when we were discussing my candidacy that this was going to be a million-dollar campaign,” revealed the younger Owens. He said that the money issue did not necessarily bode well for the people of the district. At the end of March, Owens reportedly had raised $197,514.

“Don’t be hating,” said State Senator Carl Andrews, who has raised $323,183. “Why are people questioning the raising of a million dollars for an open seat race in 2006?” Andrews asked. “If Major (Owens) had to raise that kind of money in 2000, after 20 years in Congress, what is the fuss about raising a million in 2006? This is the most expensive media market, and this is the big leagues.”

“Nobody’s hating,” countered Clarke, who has raised $164,000. “It (money) signals some of what we as a community have to face. This is not a wealthy community. The vast majority are working middle-class people,” observed Clarke. According to the 2000 Census, the median income for the 11th is $34,000.

“What we do have to be concerned about, when we look at the money being raised, is the outside interests that are sending the money,” she said. “What type of commitment from the candidate are these outside interests seeking?”

“The real estate industry is pouring thousands into Councilman David Yassky’s congressional campaign,” reported the Daily News.

“Subliminally or subconsciously, these folks get more access when the phone rings,” a member of the New York Public Interest Research Group told the Daily News.

According to findings, there are 25 real estate firms contributing toYassky, to date, along with construction firms. The Daily News referred to two such real estate firms as “land barons” and named them: Joshua Guttman and the Kestenbaum family. After the Greenpoint Terminal Market fire, Yassky reportedly returned a $500 contribution to Guttman.

Other real estate developers who raise eyebrows for contributing to Yassky are Donald Capoccia, best known as a destroyer of community gardens, who has allegedly used the building of affordable housing as a ruse to build condos (see mediafilter.org), and developer Shaya Boymelgreen, known for using non-union workers (Downtown Express, September 24), and who reportedly has a cozy relationship with Morgan Guaranty Trust Company (division of JP Morgan Chase and Company).

From the Inner City Press/Fair Finance Watch (www.innercitypress.com) we learn that in Brooklyn, JP Morgan Chase denied 42.14 percent of Black mortgage applications and 36.78 percent of Latino applications as compared to 29 percent of whites.

“While disproportionately denying and over-charging people of color, JP Morgan Chase is actively involved in funding and enabling upper-income housing, which portends gentrification and displacement of low-moderate and even middle-income people,” stated Matthew Lee, executive director of the Inner City Press.

And that is why Bertha Lewis of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is using strong language when asked if ACORN would endorse Yassky’s candidacy.

“Hell, no!” was Lewis’ reply. “We told Yassky not to run for the 11th seat. And we explained to him that he would be no more than a one-term Congressman,” added Lewis.

Lewis refers to Yassky as “the running man.” He once said he wanted to be a district attorney, the fiery activist said. “Just because people think they can buy stuff with money, they needn’t think they can buy this election,” Lewis stated emphatically.

Observers say that 76 percent of the people living in the 11th are renters, and that the game plan of the real estate industry and big developers, which is noted by downtown Brooklyn development, is to run low-income people away. Observers say, if one needs proof, just look at the plans for the Flatbush/Nostrand Avenue Mall.

To better understand the position taken by Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, go to their report of March 16, 2006, entitled “Sweetheart Development: Gentrification and Resegregation in Downtown Brooklyn.

There are over 150 contributions for Yassky from Manhattanites, over 95 from attorneys and sizable donations from residents of Chevy Chase, Maryland (attorneys and lobbyists). One other contributor that has raised some eyebrows is the Manhattan law firm of Sullivan and Cromwell, with a client list of Bank of New York, Wachovia, Goldman Sachs, Prudential, Cablevision, Exxon Mobil (founded by J.D. Rockefeller, the father of Yassky contributor David Rockefeller), GlaxoS