A Long Island nonprofit hosted and promoted a fundraiser for a Democratic state lawmaker\u2019s campaign \u2014 a move that appears to violate federal laws for tax-exempt entities, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n
Registered 501(c)(3) Long Island Youth Development Inc. held an Oct. 3 event for Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay (D-Suffolk County), according to a social media post that urged its followers to \u201cdo all we can to support her and care for our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJoin us as we hold a reception to celebrate the contributions Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay has had to the Long Island Youth Development organization and the asian community on Long Island,\u201d the post read.<\/p>\n
Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay, left, and Yanping Yu pose for a photo on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. Rebecca Kassay \/ Facebook<\/p>\n
A social media post for a reception backing Kassay. LI Youth Development \/ Instagram<\/p>\n
The nonprofit, headed by Dr. Yanping Yu, made the post as the Democrat secured a large state grant for the organization.<\/p>\n
A flyer with the post includes Kassay\u2019s campaign logo and says \u201cdonations appreciated but not required.\u201d It lists ticket prices starting at $50 up to $500 and includes a link to a page to donate to Kassay\u2019s campaign as well as a campaign email.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks to New York State\u2019s public financing program, in-district donations can be matched up to 12 times!\u201d<\/p>\n
Kassay is also taking advantage of the state\u2019s campaign matching program, meaning all donations under $250 can trigger a matching $250 from state coffers.<\/p>\n
The flyer asks attendees to please join a reception with Yu and Suffolk County lawmaker Jonathan Kornreich.<\/p>\n
Yanping Yu and Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay pose for a photo in a picture posted to social media. Rebecca Kassay \/ Facebook<\/p>\n
Nonprofits are strictly prohibited from political activity such as soliciting contributions for or on behalf of a political candidate. A 501(c)(3) can face revocation of its tax exempt status or fines if it violates the Internal Revenue Code.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clearly participating in a campaign, which is prohibited activity for a 501(c)(3),\u201d Patrick Sternal, counsel at Holtzman-Vogel, told The Post.<\/p>\n
Yu herself has donated $2,500 to Kassay since September 2025, and the Assembly member has appeared at several events for her nonprofit, according to her social media accounts.<\/p>\n
Kassay has also recognized Yu with official proclamations and honors such as a \u201cwomen of distinction\u201d award and naming her a \u201cWomen\u2019s history month honoree.\u201d Posts show the two together in Albany earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Kassay\u2019s office and the nonprofit didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Yu herself has donated $2,500 to Kassay, dating back to September 2025. Rebecca Kassay \/ Facebook<\/p>\n
The Instagram post was removed Tuesday after The Post reached out to Kassay\u2019s office for comment.<\/p>\n
Kassay, who is seeking a second two-year term to the Assembly\u2019s third district in Suffolk, is facing Republican Will Sussman in the Nov. 3 election.<\/p>\n
Sussman said he\u2019s looking forward to a \u201cfull investigation\u201d by the state attorney general, whose office oversees nonprofits.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven in Albany, most people know that you don\u2019t give out taxpayer money in exchange for donations to your campaign,\u201d Sussman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca Kassay either doesn\u2019t know the law, or she doesn\u2019t think it applies to her.\u201d I look forward to a full investigation by the Attorney General,\u201d Sussman said.<\/p>\n
State lawmakers are paid $142,000 a year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Long Island nonprofit hosted and promoted a fundraiser for a Democratic state lawmaker\u2019s campaign \u2014 a move…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4241,1253,68,57,9,11,10,49,17566,51,50,6202,58],"class_list":["post-378808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-albany","tag-campaign-finance","tag-exclusive","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-assembly","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-nonprofits","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}