Electeds mingle with real estate bigwigs at annual gala while other pols protest outside
- The Real Estate Board of New York held its glitzy annual gala on Thursday
- Mayor Adams stopped by before jetting off to meet President elect-Donald Trump
Governor Kathy Hochul addressed hundreds gathered at REBNY’s annual gala last evening at The Glasshouse in Hell’s Kitchen.
Photo courtesy: ©Jill Lotenberg for REBNY
It was the biggest night of the year for the real estate industry. Elected officials and developers mingled at the Real Estate Board of New York’s ritzy annual gala Thursday evening, while a handful of politicians joined tenant activists protesting outside the packed event.
Governor Kathy Hochul celebrated the city’s landmark zoning reforms, dubbed the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, and her close relationship with REBNY in her speech at the gala, held at The Glasshouse in Hell’s Kitchen.
“As a result of a close relationship with REBNY and so many of your members weighing in, we finally delivered a housing package where we could turn the City of Yes into truly something that was happening,” Hochul said.
REBNY President James Whelan echoed Hochul’s praise of the City of Yes and noted REBNY’s ongoing legal battle to block the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act, a bill that would shift the burden of paying apartment broker fees onto landlords, rather than tenants. (The FARE Act passed into law in December but REBNY has sued to stop it from going into effect.)
“Earlier this year we brought together thousands of brokers to push against the FARE Act and we are continuing that fight in federal court,” Whelan said Thursday.
A who’s who of New York politics
Brick Underground spotted City Council members Julie Menin and Keith Powers in attendance, though Powers stopped by after Hochul’s remarks. The crowd also included U.S. Congress member Ritchie Torres, who scored REBNY’s John E. Zuccotti Public Service Award, and Attorney General Letitia James, according to REBNY. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and former NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, who are both running for NYC mayor, also made an appearance, Politico reported.
“Is there anybody who's an elected official who’s not here tonight?” Hochul asked the crowd. “You’re missing a damn good party, that’s all I can say.”
Mayor Eric Adams missed at least part of the party. He joined REBNY’s cocktail hour, though he did not speak at the event (as he has done in the past), Politico reported. He might’ve been too busy; The New York Times reported that Adams was traveling to Florida on Thursday night to meet with President-elect Donald Trump.
Sparks fly at a protest outside
And a number of other elected officials avoided the glitz and glam of the gala—instead showing up to protest outside in the frigid air.
Brick Underground spotted New York state Representative Harvey Epstein and state Assembly member and mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. The two joined tenant advocates and other protestors, where Mamdani echoed his campaign promise of a rent freeze for rent-stabilized tenants.
“I will not raise the rent in any of the years that I am the mayor,” Mamdani shouted to attendees.
Mamdani isn’t the only candidate to have promised a rent freeze, though he was the first. State Senator Jessica Ramos and former Bronx Assembly member Michael Blake have also called for a rent freeze, though under current city procedures, that policy couldn’t take effect until October 2026 at the earliest, Brick Underground previously reported.
Protestors gathered outside The Glasshouse shouted “tenant power” and “shame” at the gala attendees headed in. Irene Hsu, the communications manager CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, which helped organize the protest, hopes to curb REBNY’s influence in politics.
REBNY has “continued to try to attack rent stabilization and rent control and they will continue to do that if we don’t stop them and get real estate money out of politics,” Hsu said. In a message to elected officials, they said, “If you’re taking real estate money, we’re tracking you.”
State representatives Claire Valdez and Marcela Mitaynes also made an appearance at the protest, according to CAAAV.
