Times Square and REBNY’s Steve Spinola

The bulk of major retail corridors in Manhattan have seen high annual jumps in average asking rents — as much as 55 percent compared to the same period last year, according to a Real Estate Board of New York retail market report issued today. [more]

The infamous business card scene in “American Psycho”

Brokers with inflated business titles are now prohibited by state regulators from identifying themselves by titles that they haven’t actually received, the Wall Street Journal reported. [more]

Brian Waterman (left) and Romel Canete (right) of NGKF with attorney Jonathan Mechanic

Barry Gosin, Brian Waterman and Romel Canete of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank took home top honors last night at the Real Estate Board of New York’s annual “Most Ingenious Deal of the Year” awards, held at the 101 Club on Park Avenue. [more]

Williamsburg

Only 73 condominiums sold in Williamsburg during the first quarter, a post-financial crisis low for the Brooklyn neighborhood, according to a residential market report released today by the Real Estate Board of New York.

The figure represents a 52 percent decrease from the same time last year, the report shows. The drop can be attributed to an historic lack of condos and co-ops in the area, where new developments are mostly rentals, REBNY said. [more]

Radio City Music Hall

“Numbers to know” is a weekly web feature that catalogues the most notable, quirky and surprising real estate statistics. REBNY heads to Harlem, Warburg debuts new pad and “America’s Got Talent” will bolster NYC’s economy. See this week’s countdown after the jump. [more]

Sarah Williams and Alyssa Soto

When 23-year-old real estate broker Sarah Williams was awarded the title of Rookie of the Year by the Real Estate Board of New York in 2011, it set off a series of events which led to her departure from Halstead Property — the firm where she cut her teeth as an agent — and to her joining Douglas Elliman, where she teamed up as a twosome with former legal intern Alyssa Soto and became a part of the firm’s Alexander Group, led by Oren Alexander.

Without winning the rookie award, the opportunities to team up with Soto and join the Alexander team might never have arisen, Williams said in an interview with The Real Deal last month. [more]

From left: REBNY’s Steve Spinola and the “South of Power” zone (Credit: The Verge)

Three powerful New York City real estate trade groups have weighed in on a proposed class action related to Hurricane Sandy rent refunds, arguing that allowing the wide-ranging suit to go forward would set a “dangerous precedent” for future landlord-tenant disputes. [more]

REBNY’s Steve Spinola and NGKF’s Barry Gosin

In advance of the Real Estate Board of New York’s annual “Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Awards” ceremony April 23, the trade association has released a list of the 19 submissions it received for the honors.

The nineteen entries represent a “significant increase” over the number of submissions REBNY normally receives, President Steve Spinola said in a statement. Only three of the deals will receive honors in the categories of finance, leasing and sales. [more]

REBNY chairman Rob Speyer

From the January issue: After several years of anticipation, the Real Estate Board of New York, the largest real estate trade group in the city, is finally gearing up to launch its new listings system. The rejiggered REBNY Listing System — widely known as the RLS — is currently in a beta-testing period and is set to launch to the full residential brokerage community later this month. The move, REBNY officials insist, will bring the portal, which many brokers have criticized as slow and inaccurate in the past, into the 21st century. [more] 

Clockwise from top left: David Levinson and Larry Silverstein; Peter Hauspurg and Daun Paris; Sen. Chuck Schumer and Harold Fetner; and Faith Hope Consolo and Dottie Herman (credit: Marc Becker)

Real estate pros donned their best attire last night for REBNY’s 117th annual gala held in the Mercury Ballroom of the New York Hilton. Industry executives including Vantage Properties CEO Neil Rubler, Terra Holdings’ Kent Swig, Silverstein Properties’ Larry Silverstein and HFZ’s Ziel Feldman, were out in force at the event. Mayor Michael Bloomberg was also seen making his way through the crowded party, flanked by several burly bodyguards. Brokers and executives hustled to work the room as attendees gathered in the lobby early in the evening, while a later meal consisted of a simple salad, steak and a sliver of chocolate fudge cake…. [more]