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]

Honorees of tonight’s REBNY banquet, from left: REBNY President Steve Spinola, Dick Concannon of Rudin Management, Mike Fishman of SEIU, William Montana of Studley, Woody Heller of Studley and Dottie Herman of Douglas Elliman (credit: Zachary Kussin)

Strong activity in the retail sector, and a robust rental and investment sales market seemed to be the tonic buoying the crowd at the 117th annual Real Estate Board of New York banquet. The gathering, held at the New York Hilton Hotel in Midtown, attracted prominent elected leaders, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, as well as thousands of prominent real estate professionals, such as Douglas Durst, Kent Swig, Lawrence Gluck, Larry Silverstein, Ziel Feldman, Paul Massey and James Kuhn. Brokers who attended the gathering were split on how 2013 would shape up. … [more]

Dottie Herman, Mike Fishman and Steven Spinola

Real estate professionals will gather tonight for the industry’s most high-profile event, the annual Real Estate Board of New York banquet — set to take place at the New York Hilton Hotel in Midtown. The event, in its 117th year, will honor developer Donald Zucker, chairman of the Donald Zucker Company; Mike Fishman, the international executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union; Douglas Elliman’s president and CEO Dottie Herman; Studley’s Woody Heller and William Montana; and Dick Concannon, senior vice president at Rudin Management. [more]

After a post-Sandy dip, New York City real estate brokers have expressed renewed confidence in the real estate market, according to the first ever Broker Confidence Index released by the Real Estate Board of New York. The December 2012 index was 8.12, the highest since September 2012’s figure of 8.55, and showed a significant increase from the November 2012 level of 7.55, when Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath left brokers uncertain about the market…. [more]

Steven Spinola, president of REBNY, and Mary Ann Tighe, REBNY chairperson

Average asking rents are continuing to climb in some major Manhattan retail corridors due to high demand and a limited availability of space, according to the Real Estate Board of New York’s fall Manhattan retail market report, which was released today. Overall in Manhattan, however, asking rents were down 4 percent from the spring and 2 percent year-over-year due to prime spaces already being occupied by tenants.

One of the areas that stands out is lower Fifth Avenue, between 42nd and 49th streets. In fall 2012, average asking rents ticked in at $1,021, up 13 percent from the spring 2012 figure of $900 and a cool 51 percent increase from the same period last year when the average came in at $675. [more]

From left: Michael Bloomberg, REBNY’s Steven Spinola

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s suggestion that one way to limit the impact of flooding from future storms would be to give large building owners more flexibility about where generators — generally kept below grade — are placed. However, the Fire Department of New York, along with some contracting professionals, expressed concerns about the potential dangers and challenges of keeping backup generators on higher ground.

“Change the building code to put generators on the roof,” not in the basement, Mayor Bloomberg said during a press conference Sunday. [more]