REBNY members served as industry representatives for the Building Resilience Task Force, which made 33 recommendations resulting in 13 new local laws. The BRTF worked with the mayor’s office to create the Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency, a $20 billion blueprint for protecting against climate change.
“We spent a great deal of time in 2013 dealing with the aftermath and what needed to be done as a result of Sandy and working with the city and state on appropriate things to ensure that we’re better able to handle another disaster,” Mr. Spinola said. “Thanks to the quick work of my members, we played a role in helping the city understand what was doable, and as a result, the city put forward a better proposal that will help New York in the future.”
In its most recent annual report and roundup, REBNY nodded to former Mayor Bloomberg’s pro-development and business stances by calling the 12 years of his tenure “some of the most dynamic years in New York’s real estate history.” The board went on to note the desire to “maintain an open dialogue and cooperation” with Mayor Bill de Blasio and the new administration. Many are taking a wait-and-see approach to the new, progressive City Hall.
“I just hope that the new administration allows us to develop and to do what we do well and that we’re not burdened by rules and regulations that would undermine New York’s position in the world,” said Mr. Green, who will receive the Bernard H. Mendik Lifetime Leadership in Real Estate Award at this week’s REBNY banquet. “I do believe that the mayor is pro-development and he wants to maintain New York’s position as the commercial and cultural capital of the world.”
Charity is a staple of the real estate community, and among the charitable endeavors pushed by REBNY over the last year, the Residential Deal of the Year Gala raised more than $75,000 for the Member in Need Fund, which provides financial grants to members facing illness or family crisis. The organization partnered with the New York City Department for the Aging for its Fifth Annual Summer Donation Drive, collecting more than 400 battery-operated and hand-crank radios, whistles and batteries from REBNY members that were then distributed to senior citizens affected by Superstorm Sandy.
The Downtown Committee’s Annual Holiday Gift Drive for Nazareth House collected more than 400 gifts for needy children, the REBNY Tennis Pro-Am raised awareness and $83,000 for the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, and the Commercial Management Breakfast raised $34,000 for the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City.
“REBNY is an extraordinary organization and very civic-minded,” Mr. Green said. “The real estate community in my mind represents the most diligent of New Yorkers. We represent New York.”
