Alec Brook-Krasny

Alec Brook-Krasny (Russian: Алек Брук-Красный) (born March 2, 1958 in Moscow, Soviet Union) is an American former politician and the first Soviet-born Russian speaker to become a member of the New York State Assembly. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and was elected on November 7, 2006 to represent the 46th District, which covers the neighborhoods of Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Dyker Heights, and Seagate, in Brooklyn. He served until July 7, 2015.

Alec Brook-Krasny
Member of the New York State Assembly from the 46th district
In office November 7, 2006 – July 7, 2015
Preceded by	Adele Cohen
Succeeded by	Pamela Harris
Personal details
Born	March 2, 1958 Moscow, RSFSR, USSR
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Website	Official website

Early life and career

Brook-Krasny immigrated to the United States in 1989 from Moscow, where he had graduated from the Moscow Institute of Consumer Technology (currently the Russian State University for Tourism and Services) in 1983. After several years in New York City, he became a manager and started his own successful business, a children's entertainment and community center called Funorama, in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.[1] He later was appointed to Brooklyn Community Board 13 and quickly rose to the position of treasurer.

Political career

Brook-Krasny's first political campaign was in 2000 for the New York State Assembly. Although he lost to the party-backed incumbent, he won a record number of votes as the city's most viable write-in candidate. In 2001, he ran for the New York City Council. Although he won the endorsement of The New York Times,[2] he lost the election to Domenic M. Recchia, Jr. That same year, Brook-Krasny became the founding Executive Director of The Council of Jewish Émigré Community Organizations, a central coordinating body for 33 community-based, Russian-speaking émigré organizations in New York.

In 2006, State Assemblywoman Adele Cohen retired and Brook-Krasny declared his candidacy for her position. Running a fierce campaign against fellow local activist Ari Kagan, who is also Russian-born, Brook-Krasny successfully reached out to many non-Jewish voters and secured the endorsements of many local newspapers and elected officials. He won a very close Democratic primary election, with 3,101 votes to Kagan's 2,958,[3] and then easily won the general election over the Republican candidate, Patricia B. Laudano, 10,423 to 4,139 votes.[4][5]

Brook-Krasny was reelected to his assembly seat in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. During his tenure, he served on the Housing, Aging, Cities, Election Law, and Governmental Employees Committees. On June 11, 2015, he announced his resignation from the assembly effective July 7, to work in the private sector.[6] He was succeeded by Pamela Harris, who was selected as the Democratic nominee by a party committee[7] and then won the special general election in November.[8]

Criminal charges

In 2017, as part of "Operation Avalanche" Brook-Krasny was arrested on charges of healthcare fraud. He was indicted along with eight other individuals and corporate entities with schemes to illegally sell prescriptions for over 3.7 million opioid painkillers, to defraud Medicaid and Medicare of millions of dollars and to commit money laundering through two Brooklyn medical clinics owned by Lazar Feygin.[9][10] Feygin pleaded guilty to 16 charges including conspiracy, criminal sale of a prescription and health care fraud.[11]

Acquittal

After a trial that lasted two months, on July 25, 2019 Brook-Krasny was found not guilty of five felony charges of conspiracy, health care fraud, and scheming to defraud the state. A mistrial was declared on the other three misdemeanor commercial bribery charges after the jury could not reach a verdict.[12][13] Remaining charges against Alec Brook-Krasny were dismissed on Dec 2, 2019.[14]

References

1. Cardwell, Diane (September 6, 2001). "Race for City Hall: Brooklyn - 6 Democrats Seek Council Nomination in an Increasingly Diverse Area". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
2. "Council Endorsements: Brooklyn". The New York Times. August 30, 2001. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
3. "Statement and Return Report for Certification - Primary Election 2006 - 09/12/2006 Kings County - Democratic Party" (PDF). vote.nyc.ny.us. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
4. Hicks, Jonathan P. (December 13, 2006). "City Sends 2 Foreign-Born First-Timers to the Assembly". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
5. "Assembly - Vote - Nov. 7, 2006" (PDF). elections.ny.gov. New York State Board of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
6. Katinas, Paula. "Brook-Krasny to Resign From State Assembly on July 7 - Source: Lawmaker Taking Private Sector Job to Boost Family Finances". brooklyneagle.com. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
7. Silberstein, Rachel. "Pamela Harris Wins Democratic Nomination For Brook-Krasny's Assembly Seat". bensonhurstbean.com. Bensonhurst Bean. Archived from the original on 2016-01-22. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
8. "Pamela Harris (New York)". ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia - The Encyclopedia of American Politics. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
9. Nugent, Thomas (June 14, 2017). "New Indictment Charges Alec Brook-Krasny, a Former New York State Assemblyman, with Commercial Bribing". snpnyc.org. Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
10. Rosenberg, Rebecca (April 13, 2017). "Ex-Assemblyman arraigned in $6.3M narcotics scheme". New York Post. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
11. Bensimon, Olivia (March 11, 2019). "Crooked doctor who admitted to running 'pill mills' takes plea deal". New York Post. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
12. Goldberg, Noah (July 26, 2019). "Former Brooklyn pol acquitted on charges of conspiracy, fraud — mistrial on three other counts". brooklyneagle.com. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
13. "Alec Brook-Krasny Found Not Guilty". shorefrontnews.com. Shorefront News. July 26, 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
14. Rosenberg, Rebecca (2019-12-03). "Bribery charges dismissed against ex-state Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-01-14.