Rabsky Co-founders Are Going Separate Ways
Simon Dushinsky and Isaac Rabinowitz are going their separate ways. At least when it comes to new projects.
The press-shy co-founders of the powerhouse New York City developer Rabsky Group are no longer pursuing new development opportunities together, according to a source familiar with the matter. The former duo is focusing on their individual portfolios and ventures, the source said.
Rabsky will continue to exist and Dushinsky and Rabinowitz will still work together to own and operate Rabsky’s existing portfolio of $4 billion in assets, the source said.
Dushinsky is focusing on his solo venture, Sky Equity Group, which specializes in luxury condo and multifamily developments in New York City and South Florida. Rabinowitz’s new company is not known. Rabinowitz’s son-in-law Yitzchok Katz runs Goose Property Management, a firm affiliated with Rabsky that has become a major player in Brooklyn on its own.
When Sky Equity first launched, it was unclear if it was an offshoot of Rabsky. Now, it’s become clear that the two are going their separate ways with new projects.
Rabsky was founded in the early 1990s by Dushinsky and Rabinowitz, both Hasidic immigrants from Israel. The name “Rabsky” is a portmanteau blending their last names. The two started building homes in the U.S. in Kiryas Joel, New York, before constructing residential properties in South Williamsburg and then developing megaprojects in the fast-gentrifying North Williamsburg and Brooklyn.
Sources said Rabinowitz focused more on design while Dushinsky handled day-to-day operations.
“We are two partners, we do everything together,” Rabinowitz said in a deposition in 2012. “Twenty times a day we have meetings together.”
Some of Rabsky’s notable projects include the Rheingold, a 500-unit rental at 10 Montieth Street in Bushwick, a 1,100-unit, eight-building project at the former Pfizer site in South Williamsburg’s Broadway Triangle, and 625 Fulton Street, an 1,100-unit multifamily building in Downtown Brooklyn.
The firm is consistently ranked in The Real Deal’s annual rankings as one of the city’s most active builders.
A few years ago, rumors spread that Rabinowitz and Dushinsky were splitting up, but a Rabsky representative denied the fracture in a 2024 interview with TRD.
“I can’t speak to rumors, but I don’t see it,” said the Rabsky representative named Hersh at the time. “I’m seeing them working every day together, sitting together, going to job sites together, looking at deals together. I’m seeing the same relationship that I saw.”
Dushinsky is the better-known of the pair, with sources mentioning his direct communication style and attention to detail on all parts of the development process.
“There’s no bullshit,” a source told TRD in 2024. “He will say, this is what you are going to do. And in two weeks I want to have a shovel in the ground.”
In 2024, Dushinsky pivoted to markets outside of Brooklyn. Those projects were part of Sky Equity. In Manhattan, the firm is constructing 65 Franklin Street, a luxury condo development in Tribeca, and recently topped out at 260 East 72nd Street — a 20-story condo tower. In Brooklyn, Sky Equity completed The Westmark, a 425-unit rental complex in Gowanus.
In South Florida, Dushinsky’s firm is building The Ombelle Fort Lauderdale, a two-tower luxury condo project.
Sky Equity has a development pipeline of nearly 7 million square feet.
Sky Equity declined to comment. Rabinowitz did not return a request for comment.
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